St. Patrick CES students raise money for humane society with “For the Love of Animals”

Students in Ann-Marie Condon’s Grade 1/2 classroom at St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School are officially published authors as they hosted visitors from the Benjamin Project, One Thousand Trees Publishing, and the Peterborough Humane Society on June 17, 2024 to celebrate their new book “For the Love of Animals”. 

The book, published in collaboration with One Thousand Trees and The Benjamin Project, was written by students in an effort to raise awareness and funds for their local shelter, the Peterborough Humane Society. Each student illustrated and wrote their own story about a pet in their life, and what it means to take care of them. 

“My favourite part was getting to write about my snake, Ed,” said Grade 2 student Eileen B. “I enjoyed getting to write about him and want to write about my own life next.” 

Each student was presented with their own copy of the book, which is available for purchase on Amazon for $10.95. Proceeds will go towards the Peterborough Humane Society, with students already donating a total of $400 through school spirit days with funds matched by The Benjamin Project. 

Malcolm Bernstein, the owner of The Benjamin Project, a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate on responsible pet ownership and to raise funds for shelters, sanctuaries and rescues, was in attendance to speak thanks on behalf of the organization. 

“We had our dog, Benjamin, for 13 years from the Newmarket shelter before he passed in 2013,” said Bernstein. “He inspired this work so that all children could experience the joy of nurturing a pet and learning about the compassion and intelligence that pets possess.”

“Our thanks go out to the students at St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School, and teacher Anne-Marie Condon,” said Lisa Browning, owner of publishing company One Thousand Trees. “This is one of the first books published in the province, and our goal is to give students a chance to be published authors with philanthropy in mind.” 

Representatives from the Peterborough Humane Society were also in attendance with some special guests to express their gratitude for the work done.