Governor Mifflin

Seven members of our Key Club teamed up with students from Hamburg High School and traveled to Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico for our annual Service Learning Trip. We volunteered at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a no -kill shelter located in Utah that takes in almost every animal in need. They keep exotic and common birds, cats, dogs, horses, pot-bellies pigs, bunnies, and “wild friends,” a special part of the sanctuary where they rehabilitate wild animals like hawks and coyotes for re-release into the wild. We mostly helped out by cleaning out cages and scooping waste. Despite this, we got to socialize with many of the animals. We spent hours just petting the dogs and cats, feeding the bunnies, talking to the parrots, playing with the pigs, and watching training demonstrations with the horses. It was awesome seeing the enthusiasm of every staff member there. They were all so passionate about their jobs and what they were doing to better the lives of the animals, which was such an inspiration to all of us.  While we were in the area, we took advantage of our free hours and got to learn more about our country and experience breath-taking views at places like the Grand Canyon and Chaco Canyon. We learned so much about the culture of the Native Americans living in the area and even more about our own culture as Americans. We even grew closer as a group through fireside talks and long hikes together. It was an awesome experience and we can’t wait until next year!