Boy draws pictures of animals to raise money for Lewis County Humane Society
GLENFIELD, New York (WWNY) - Kayden Kraeger is 8-years-old and has always loved animals.
Earlier this month, he thought of a way to use that love, along with his talent for drawing, to help the Lewis County Humane Society.
Kayden sold his drawings. He sat in his front lawn for hours commissioning all kinds of pieces.
“I wanna help the dogs and cats have enough food and water so they can be healthy when people want to adopt them,” said Kayden.
“He had neighbors coming left and right. He got all of his pictures bought out, and he was like, Mom! I have to make more! He was out there for another five hours after that,” said Courtney Kraeger, Kayden’s mom.
By the end of the day, Kayden raised $333. With that kind of money, he could’ve bought dozens of toys and sketchpads.
“I didn’t really want to spend it on something I liked. I wanted to spend it on something I loved: animals,” said Kayden.
His mom decided to bump the check for the humane society up to $500.
“I felt like I loved doing things to help the animals and that made me feel very good inside,” said Kayden.
And it was much needed. The Humane Society gets a lot of injured pets coming through its door, like Ameila the cat, who needed to have one eye and all of her teeth removed. It’s vet bills like hers that make donations like Kayden’s so important.
“The money we’ve gotten recently has really helped with vet bills and being able to take in more (animals),” said Amber Zehr, humane society manager.
On top of that, Zehr says some people have been returning pets they adopted during the pandemic, no longer needing the company.
“We struggle to find room for everybody. We have, like, a four page waiting list of people who want to surrender cats,” she said.
It’s these struggles that make what Kayden did so special.
“It’s absolutely inspirational,” said Zehr.
A young boy with a big imagination and a bigger heart.
“I love it here,” said Kayden.
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