Featured Story of the Week - Payton

Recently I had the privilege of meeting a young lady named Payton. Payton turned eight a week or so ago. I was contacted by Payton's father with some amazing news. Payton was having a birthday party and she asked that, instead of bringing birthday gifts for her, she wanted her friends to bring donations for the animals at the Humane Society!

I was shocked, amazed, and grateful. To feel like we hear so much negative news and deal with so much cynicism...to have something like this happen...well, it is good for the spirit and the soul!

I set up a time to meet with Payton and her family at one of the vet clinics we use since we don't have an actual facility (yet!). I had just brought in a mother dog and her three-week-old puppies at the same time that Payton and her family arrived. Everyone had a great time playing with the tiny babies and Payton enjoyed a brief tour of the vet clinic.

I was so impressed with this young lady and her maturity. The whole family was awesome! What a testament to these parents! How proud they must be of the children they have raised. Payton's mom told me that the kids all brought their "gifts" wrapped up like normal birthday gifts. She said Payton opened the gifts and the kids were "ooing and ahhing" over the dog toys, cat treats, and pet food that was brought to share. I thought that was the nicest thing to hear.

What a great thing all of the children at the birthday party participated in. Not just because the Humane Society received much appreciated donations, but because all of the kids learned that it can be fun to give back. We have all heard the term "it is better to give than receive", but do we always genuinely feel that way? Do we really expect children of this age to feel that way? To see this truly in action is just so incredibly inspiring to me and gives me hope. It also gives me the determination to move on with my animal work, even though days come along that I just don't think I can do it anymore. How can I think of eight-year-old Payton sacrificing birthday gifts for herself to instead have gifts to give to homeless animals, and then feel sorry for myself for being a little burnt out or having a tough week?

I wanted to share this to hopefully inspire others, through Payton's story of pure selflessness, that it really can be better to give than to receive. If Payton can think to do something so generous, we adults have no excuses to not be more thoughtful and charitable - not necessarily with money - but with our time and talent. Little things add up! Little things mean a lot!

As I was getting ready to leave the vet clinic, I was telling the wonderful staff there how much I appreciated them letting us meet at their facility and spend time there with Payton and her family. They told me that they were honored to be a part of this. That is exactly how I felt, too!

Debbie Martin
President, Humane Society of Houston County