Shine City Project Report (1/12/20)

[Ken Doo]

Shine City Project Report (1/12/20)

All Friends Animal Sanctuary

January 12, 2020

On January 12, 2020, Shine City Project reunited with our honored faculty advisor, Tara Pike-Nordstrom! Tara is the UNLV Recycling Manager and Sustainability Coordinator, and she has a strong, loving heart for our Earth and the environment. For several years, she was our faculty advisor while Shine City Project was still a registered student organization at UNLV. Our most memorable cleanups that we have had with Tara was our late-night cleanups at Sam Boyd Stadium. After a sporting event finishes at the stadium, we would help Tara collect all of the bottles, cans, plastic cups, and other recyclable materials from the bleachers. Tara and her crew would often be there for several hours after midnight.

On this special Sunday afternoon, we met with Tara at her home, a sanctuary for animals! Though it wasn't until 2019 that Tara's home officially became a nonprofit organization known as the All Friends Animal Sanctuary, her home has been a place where animals can be cared for since she and her family moved in in 2013. At her home, we could meet her furry and feathery friends, including chickens, goats, pigs, and a mother cow and her calf! In total, she has around 41 individual animals! One of the most unusual animals that we could meet were a species of chickens that appeared to be furry and fluffy! These chickens were known as Silkie chickens.

At the service project, we had ten volunteers, including two who were joining us for the first time! Our volunteers were able to help out with several different tasks including scooping up poop from the cow pen, clearing away goat droppings and excess hay, and sorting produce to be either composted or fed to the animals! We were able to help feed a number of the animals there including cantaloupe for the pigs, leafy greens and hay for the cows, and strawberries for the goats!

Overall, we enjoyed the service project! Though at first we were nervous and hesitant about interacting with the animals, we were able to quickly grow our hearts for the animals by the end of the service project! It was a great experience being able to feed the animals and to take care of them. We appreciate Tara's love for animals, and we hope to also do our best to be stewards for our environment!