MEDICINE HAT, AB — Rowynn Biffart has grown up living life around animals and on October 16th she turns 10 years old.
Most children have a list of toys they wan but that’s not the case with Rowynn.
She is asking that instead of a present her friends bring a $10 donation for the Medicine
Hat SPCA because it’s her tenth birthday in the tenth month.
“Everybody can donate $10 to the SPCA because I already have quite a bit, and I’m thinking well maybe I could do something for somebody else,” said Rowynn.
Rowynn has volunteered with the SPCA in the past, and that helped in the decision of where she wanted to donate the money raised.
“’Cause I love animals, and animals are just my favourite,” said Rowynn.
Rowynn’s mother Rochelle says its heartwarming to see her daughter wanting to help others.
“I’m proud of her. She’s always been like that, a forward thinker,” said Rochelle. “She’s always wanted to help other people, animals, she’s just got a generous heart.”
Rowynn’s generosity hasn’t gone unnoticed by Kristina Segall, president of the MHSPCA, who says the shelter relies on help from the community.
“I was overjoyed for how sweet she is to come up with this idea to advocate for our animals at such a young age,” said Segall. “Just to realize the importance that we need the community support to operate.”
Segall says fundraisers like this are a huge help especially when it’s been such a tough year financially for the SPCA.
“We’re seeing an increase in animals, increase in veterinary costs, due to getting more senior animals,” said Segall. “They have more medical expenses, people dropping off animals themselves that maybe they can’t afford vet fees. So they’ll just drop them off for us.”
Although Rowynn’s birthday is on the 16th she wants people to donate throughout the whole month of October.
She started things off with a $68 donation from her piggy bank and the SPCA says they’ve already received over $250.
If you would like to donate $10 in honour of Rowynn’s birthday you can do so in person at Medicine Hat’s SPCA office or online at medhatspca.ca.
