Ava Hendrickson ‘22
Mia Cabral ‘22
Mutt Madness, a community-wide event in collaboration with one of EA’s most recent community partners, is quickly approaching. Mutt Madness is one of the more recent additions to the community service events, with 2020 being the program’s third year, but EA has been steadily developing a relationship with the Providence Animal Shelter in Media.
Emma Bittenbender ‘20, who is involved in organizing the program, explains, “We already had students volunteering there, so that’s how we found out about [the shelter]… and from that student connection, our school was able to connect with them.” Kate Hershey ‘20 explains the Community Service Corps’ role in the program, saying, “A few people lead each year, and last year Emma [Bittenbender], Lauren [Bassett] and I led it. The Community Service Board helps sell the brackets during lunch to the whole Upper School.” She adds, “Students can buy the brackets for ten dollars and all proceeds are donated to the shelter, which uses the money to buy supplies for the dogs.”
Even though it was a relatively new idea, the Community Service Corps was quick to support it. Bittenbender explains, “That was especially because the Community Service Board had never really done anything for animal awareness in the past.” This event has been especially popular amongst students, with the basketball brackets only adding to this popularity. Hershey says, “I think that the brackets are something that a lot of people can get involved in, because a lot of times, the service opportunities seem to attract the same group of people over and over again, whereas the brackets allows the community as a whole and a greater group of people to get involved; to make an impact and help our community partners.” She continues, “Some of the service events that we do have limited spots. For example, we can only send a certain number of people to UCHC each week, but Mutt Madness is something that there’s no limit: as many people can do it if they want.”
Lauren Bassett ‘20 emphasizes the significance of the event being in March, saying, “Around Thanksgiving and Christmas, towards the end of the year, there’s always an emphasis on serving, but service should be year-round. Sometimes it gets lost around January, February, or March, so it’s a great opportunity to do some good in our community.” Bassett goes on to explain, “We give the money directly to the Providence Animal Shelter, because at the end of the day they are the ones that know what they need best, so rather than us buying a bunch of things that they might not be able to use, we can just give them the money, that way they can use it most effectively.”
This fundraising event also appeals to non-basketball fans by including prizes, Bassett says. “We try to make it accessible for people who maybe aren’t interested in basketball or the march madness bracket competition, so we have prizes that don’t revolve around basketball, like a gift card to a restaurant or something like that.” She summarizes, “The whole point of this event is to bring the community together.”