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SEPTEMBER 2018
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Saving lives, one pet at a time 12-year-old raising money for pet oxygen masks, supplies By JenniFeR GoeTZ
You are never too young to make a difference in your community. Sienna Filippine has proven just that, as she, at 12 years old, has been able to create an organization that is not only helping animals in the Burlington County Animal Shelter and other emergency organizations, but is also helping fund equipment that can save a pet’s life in an emergency. Pennies for Pets is a nonprofit organization created by Filippine to support animals in shelters, and to raise funds for oxy-
gen masks and microchips for animals. She is no stranger to animals—between two homes, she has four cats, four dogs, a hamster and two turtles, and she is happy to be doing something to help other animals in her community and in other surrounding communities. Filippine first thought of this idea as the result of a presentation during a school assembly. Pennies for Patients, an organization that raises money for cancer patients, visited her school when Filippine was 10 years old, and it inspired to think of an charitable organization herself. That day, she went home to tell her mom and stepdad about her idea: to create an organization to help pets. Filippine knew that to start, she at least needed a Facebook page and a website. From then on, Pennies for Pets was born.
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Since that first day—March 10, 2017—Filippine has gone to over seven events where she has raised funds for the benefit of all different kinds of animals. She sets up a table and asks for monetary donations while she explains the mission of Pennies for Pets. The funds she collects are then donated to local emergency services organizations. Pennies for Pets also accepts non-monetary donations, in the form of unopened cans of dog or cat food, cat toys and treats, stainless steel dog bowls, blankets, sheets, towels and other supplies that might be useful for pets. All of those items are then donated to the Burlington County Animal Shelter. Starting off small, Filippine and her family started collecting donations for the shelter, tangible and monetary. After See PETS, Page 5
Read 1,000 books? No problem Three-year-old the county’s first to complete reading challenge By Michele alPeRin Three-year-old Ava Duchini, one of 727 children participating in the Burlington County Library System 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge, is the first child to complete the program. Her mom, Jessica Hensley, attributes Ava’s having listened to that many books since January to a lifelong commitment to reading on the part of both mother and daughter. Hensley has read to Ava since she
was an infant, and they are at the library at least two times a week—sometimes four or five. And today, Hensley says, “When she wants a bedtime story, she brings you 10 books.” Having a mom who is a reading role model has also been important. “I love reading; I read all the time. And Ava has always imitated me,” Hensley says. Choosing books for Ava at the librar y is a cinch. “I go through the librar y and pick what I think would really interest her,” Hensley says, “and the librarians are really good—they set out the really good ones on top.” Each branch in the Burlington County Librar y System
also has a special 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten collection, with 1,000 librarianselected books for this age group, ranging from board and picture books to stor y-books. “I have no self-control at the library,” Hensley says. The library does place a limit of 35 books per card, but since both she and Ava have cards, she declares herself done once she fills up two big bags. Danielle Haubrich, branch manager at Pinelands Librar y, coordinates the program for the BCLS. Aware that the 1,000 Books program was a nationwide initiative, she says, “We decided it would be a great fit. It is a simple, fun approach to building early litSee BOOKS, Page 8
Bordentown soccer player Aiden Amankwah goes up for a header against a Trenton opponent during a home scrimmage Aug. 20, 2018. For more soccer coverage, turn to Page 16. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
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