Fremont students, bus driver team up to support animal shelter
For nearly 18 years, Wendy Obenauf has been driving a school bus for Fremont School District 79. In her free time, she serves as a volunteer at Animal Education & Rescue in Libertyville and often fosters some of the shelter’s pets herself. Her love of animals has served as a way of connecting her with her student bus riders.
“My bus always talks about animals,” she said. “I have pictures of my fosters on the bus. We carry milkbones and throw them to the dogs when we go by.”
When the idea of doing a fundraiser for the shelter came about on her bus one day, she couldn’t have imagined that it ultimately would be as successful as it was. For two-and-a-half weeks, the students on Bus T brought in their dog and cat food donations. One of the students on the bus even created bracelets that she handed out to the fellow students when they provided an item for donation.
“I never expected it to get to be what it did,” Obenauf said. “Every day that I pulled into the bus lot, I would have to empty the bus because it had so much food.”
The donations eventually filled up Obenauf's car. The fundraising efforts culminated with a Sunday afternoon get-together at the home of one of the families whose students ride Bus T. It was an opportunity for the students to come together to play and celebrate with some lemonade, popsicles and even some puppy-themed cupcakes.
Together, they surprised the shelter’s owner, Sandy Kamen Wisniewski, with more than two tables full of donations to support the animals.
“The kids got so involved in it,” Obenauf said. “It was a success, all in all. I never expected it to be like that. I thought we might get a couple of cans or a couple of bags of dog food. It just escalated.”
The event was so successful, that the families involved are hoping to make it an annual tradition.
“It was fun to do something with them to get them so involved,” Obenauf said. “I’m really proud of them.”
To learn more about Animal Education & Rescue, please visit their website at aear.org.