Are you a student passionate about helping animals and protecting the environment? NHHS has the club for you!
NHHS Eco Paws is an inclusive club that aims to support the environment and animals. They have been doing this by being involved in various adoption events and a fundraiser.
The club was started by Diana Birnbaumer, a Zoo Magnet junior, at the beginning of this school year.
Birnbaumer stated, “I started the club because I started working with YesAction [an environmental sustainability organization] so I wanted to do something related to it [environmental sustainability],”
She originally planned on having her club focus more on the environment, but she changed her mind while applying to create the club. She decided to focus on supporting animals in the North Hollywood area. She said her love of animals and history rescuing dogs with her mother created a passion for caring and being around animals, leading her to create the club.
She reflected, saying, “I wanted to highlight animal support because I feel in North Hollywood that there wasn’t a lot of things related to animal support. It was mostly at the Zoo.”
They began their meetings at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year by doing activities that revolved around recycling. Their meetings at school are short, but Birnbaumer says that their actual meetings are the adoption events and activities they do outside school.
At adoption events,
Eco Paws also provides the opportunity to earn volunteer hours for every meeting and at the events they participate in outside of school. This was important to Birnbaummer who felt it took more work for students to fit volunteering into their schedule.they help care for dogs and advocate for their adoption. They take them on walks, feed them, give them water, and sometimes clean up after them if needed. These events are usually held at farmers’ markets. Most recently they have been held by Vegan LA.
When asked what her favorite part about creating the club was, Birnbaumer excitedly explained, “My favorite part about creating the club is the adoption events. I love to be around dogs and I love to be the person who helped to get the dogs adopted. I love to see the faces of people who adopt the dogs. It’s a really nice feeling, like, ‘Oh! There is a new family!’ It’s so cute.”
They meet on Mondays after school, in A152 [Ms. Benitez’s room]. Their Instagram username is @nhhs_eco_paws, where they post any updates regarding events and meetings.
