The hopefully soon-to-be adopted pets in the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter received a large gift — including tough chew toys, rope toys, bones and blankets — from a Lynbrook South Middle School student on June 8.
Matthew Bernstein, a seventh grader, teamed up with Rock & Rawhide to collect items and donate them to the shelter in Wantagh in an effort to increase adoption rates.
Rock & Rawhide, created by the husband and wife duo of Sean-Patrick Hillman and Kylie Edmond, seeks to increase adoptions and quality of life for dogs and cats in shelters, by providing distraction therapy, as well as noise and stress reduction, through donations.
Bernstein, with the help of his parents, David and Deena, and a few friends, organized a collection in six Lynbrook schools. The collection ended on April 26 after dozens of items were donated.
On June 8, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, as well as Hillman and Edmond, joined Bernstein and his family to donate the collected items. Bernstein organized the collection for his Bar Mitzvah project, which took place on April 27.
