Max Cushner: The Power of Giving
Max with his two house rabbits,
Ruby and Carter
Max Cushner is a 13-year-old middle school student who lives in Norton, MA. Max participated in a Mitzvah Project – a community service project –as part of his bar mitzvah preparation. The focus of his Mitzvah Project was the Humane Treatment and Kindness of Animals. Max wanted to do something that was of personal interest to him, and that would really make a difference and help animals in need.
Max has two house rabbits, Ruby and Carter, and is a member of the Sunny Rock 4-H Rabbit Club in Sharon, MA. He searched the Internet for organizations that support house rabbits and discovered House Rabbit Network and Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue, Inc. Max contacted House Rabbit Network and visited Sweet Binks to find out how he could help and what could be done to most helpful to the rabbits in the shelter.
Max learned that donations of items necessary to run a shelter and contributions to help defray shelter expenses and veterinarian care were needed. Max also learned that promoting public awareness for the need to adopt rabbits from shelters and educating people of the importance of the commitment of caring for a pet rabbit were most important.
Max took advantage of February’s “Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month” to kick off his campaign to make a difference. Max sent letters to members of his temple, friends and family asking for donations and contributions in support of his Mitzvah Project and placed donation bins, pasted with pictures of adorable, adoptable bunnies, in his Synagogue and Jewish Community House. News releases were sent to local newspapers informing them of “Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month”. Max was also featured in full-page stories, including pictures, in both local and regional newspapers.
Max received phone calls, donations, and contributions from people in the community who wanted to help after reading the story in one of the papers. The North Attleboro Middle School invited Max to speak at Heritage Day, where people from the community are asked to speak about interesting hobbies, professions or interests to its students. Max asked Sweet Binks to join him in presenting information in public awareness of the shelter and proper care and handling of house rabbits.
Max also set up an “Adopt a Rescued Rabbit” booth at a C.H.I.P.S. event, a child identification program in his community, to collect donations and hand out information about House Rabbit Network and Sweet Binks. He also distributed booklets on The Importance of Proper Rabbit Care. To bring the bunnies closer to the public’s eye, Max made a poster board full of photos of rabbits waiting to be rescued.
In June, Max featured his Mitzvah Project on Spirit Day at his public school, the Foxboro Regional Charter School. Spirit Day is a student community awareness program that teaches and instills civic awareness and responsibility. Students were asked to make contributions; these donations were then divided between and sent to House Rabbit Network and Sweet Binks.
By the time Max was done, he had raised over $3,000 in contributions and delivered a car full of donated items. In addition, people who had read the news stories in the papers had been inspired to adopt rabbits from the shelters.
Max continues his work as an advocate of rescued rabbits and should be very proud of the work he has done. I think we would all agree that Max reached his goal of doing something that really made a difference to help animals in need.
by Sharon Cushner