Young Animal Lover Spreading Joy Of Season To Shelter

SAN CARLOS, CA -- Maya Akers, 11, has a list, and is checking it twice. For animal lovers considered nice this holiday season, the animals at the Peninsula Humane Society could use a little Christmas cheer.

This sixth-grade student at Central Middle School in San Carlos is playing Santa for the variety of animals and needs your help. She's made a list of necessary shelter items and has opened up her home as a collection center this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

"I will be there in my driveway with my hamster, Tutu, rain or shine," Maya declared, referring to a predicted storm to hit the Bay Area this weekend. "Well, if it's raining, we'll be in the open garage."

So there you have it. And if you do have an item listed but are too busy shopping in those three hours, she and her mother Diana Dull Akers will accept the donations for a week on the porch. They'll leave the light on for ya'. The house is located at 2820 Brittan Ave. in San Carlos.

The enterprising youngster is turning the donation drive into a school project at the middle school called R.O.P.E.S., a voluntary, extra-curricular activity that may serve as a community service project. R.O.P.E.S, which stands for Rite of Passage Experiences, requires the fourth-, sixth- and eighth-grade students develop oral and written presentations on their projects.

Maya's motivation is pretty simple. It starts with family and ends with her own experiences. Her grandmother has adopted three rescue dogs from the Humane Society. Plus, the girl volunteered there during a summer camp.

"I immediately took a certain liking to a rabbit," she admitted to Patch. She was also pleased when two kittens, Rainbow and Jefferson, got adopted.

Her mother admitted to wondering if this young self-proclaimed animal lover would come home with a shelter full of animals to adopt. After all, this shelter has seen three pigs come into the system in one year. The last one, named Piggy Smalls, got adopted right away, and lives on a farm.

"I was trying my best to give her a taste of that. She just wants to give back," Dull Akers said. "She's a die-hard animal lover."

Essentially, Maya has spread her wings -- and with that, her ambitions and experience.

She has learned to be ok with having frozen mice in the vehicle, the result of one neighbor's cleaning out of her freezer after her pet snake died. The Humane Society feeds those to the owls it keeps in its rehabilitation division. The reptiles like the mice too.

"I want to help these animals have a great Christmas or whatever they might celebrate," Maya insists.

The Peninsula Humane Society "animal wish list" consists of items many people could find scrounging through their houses.

It calls for the following for all animals:

• Towels (used or new)
• Unstuffed blankets (used or new/no comforters)
• Paper towels
• Newspapers

For the dogs, please donate:

• Harnesses (preferably "Sensation" or "Easy Walk")
• Canned gravy-type food
• Nylabone chews
• Creamy peanut butter
• Rope toys

The cats will fancy:

• Fancy Feast or Friskies cat food
• Canned tuna
• Unscented baby wipes for kittens
• Large shoeboxes (with no lids) for cats to sleep in
• Ping-pong balls
• Pipe cleaners
• Feather toys/long cat wands

Small animals could use:

• Timothy Hay (a type of hay that guinea pigs like to eat)
• Untreated wicker items for rabbits to chew on (baskets, balls, knick-knacks)

For the birds:

• Bird toys (small and medium)
• Sisal rope
• Feather dusters

Reptiles may slither into the act with:

• Critter containers (all sizes)
• Butcher/wax paper
• Incandescent light bulbs (60-100 watt)

More information on the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA may be obtained www.phs-spca.org.

--Images courtesy of Peninsula Humane Society