CARLSBAD, Calif. — At the end of a long day, we all need a place to rest our weary heads.
In this Zevely Zone, I stitched a story together at the San Diego County Animal Shelter in Carlsbad. I entered the shelter to the sound of laughter and humming sewing machines. Sometimes in life, you just hear about a bunch of good people in a room who are making the world a better place.
"We like to sew," said Merilyne Hickman. I started giving out high fives to the volunteers from Kennel Comforters.
"Ha, ha, ha. Okay what do you want?" said the volunteer Mary Anne Herman.
I'm glad she asked, because I wanted to know how it's possible for me to scout the county for feel-good stories and never come across the volunteers at Kennel Comforters.
"It's all about the kids, the four legged hairy kids," said Mary Anne Herman. "Well it's true! It's about the dogs and the cats and we are here to make beds for them and to make them comfortable and possibly when someone goes into the shelter and they see how cuddly and cute they are they'll adopt one."
These loving hands have crafted so many of animal beds, it'll make your head spin. Are you ready? 11,000 of them! Just think about all of the scared dogs and cats that enter a shelter who now have a soft bed to sleep in. Their beds are soft and so are the hearts of the volunteers.
"Every bed that we make has a heart in the center of it," said Merilyne Hickman. "This one has dogs on the beach, wearing sunglasses."
The group meets every first Friday and Saturday of every month.
"You notice we like to talk," said Merilyne. "Who is the biggest talker?" I asked. She responded, "So far you, ha, ha."
I'm paid to talk, but these volunteers all do it for free and Sally Costello from the Department of Animal Services wants to say thank you.
"We are using those beds everywhere here and I have the joy of delivering them to our Bonita Shelter as well every month I take a hundred beds to each of the shelters," said Costello.
Cats and dogs are creatures of comfort so I ask, "We can't have animals laying on metal?" Mary Anne Herman immediately said, "Well, would you want to lie on metal?"
Of course not, and just the thought of it isn't something these ladies are about to take lying down.
"Why spend your time doing this?" I asked. "Because I can't take them all home," said C.J. Lee.
Apparently the number-one rule to making the world a better place is keeping your customers happy.
"Our customers are the animals," said C.J.
"Unconditional love, an animal gives you unconditional love," said Mary Anne Herman.
Kennel Comforters in a non-profit grass roots operation that is always in need of volunteers and donations. If you'd like to help the project and the animals go to their Facebook page.