Thursday, Feb. 22, the Pride Center and Women and Gender Resource Center hosted Cat Crafts, an event open to all ETSU students.

Cat Crafts was an event where ETSU’s Pride Center and Women and Gender Resource Center were able to form a partnership with the Appalachian Highlands Humane Society.

“So, they actually reached out to us, looking for partnerships on campus, and I’ve been looking for opportunities for my students to get involved in the community, get some volunteer hours and just look at benefiting the community around them, so when the Appalachian Highlands Humane Society reached out, it was exactly what I was looking for,” Bethany Dye, Pride Center coordinator, shared.

(Contributed/ahhumanesociety.org)

Cat Crafts was a walk-in event in the Pride Center from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Students could walk in when they had time and make easy little crafts, that could be fun toys for a needy cat. To make these toys, the supplies needed included strips of fabric and catnip for the middle.

“We had a meeting to discuss how we could benefit both areas, and this was one of the first ideas we came up with. So, the students get to actively and physically do arts and crafts, which we are very big on in this center. It will go directly to cats that are in need, and because we are making so many, it will also go towards the goodie bags for when the cats get adopted,” Dye explained.

The Pride Center and Women and Gender Resources Center have had a lot of mutually beneficial discussions with the Appalachian Highlands Humane Society. These discussions have brought up many more tentative events that will be on campus. These events are currently pending the process of getting approved.

“This is just the beginning. We want to do more in the community. We want to bring more community partners onto campus so our students can meet them,” Dye mentioned.

In addition to events like Cat Crafts, the Pride Center wants to make connections with all students on campus. Being a student support center means caring and supporting for all students and being here to help anyone.

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