Jordan Yu, Galvin student, raises funds for PAWS

On Valentine’s Day, Jordan Yu displayed his love for his cat Yuna and for PAWS, the group from which she was adopted last year, by donating over $1000. Yuna, whose name comes from Japanese and Korean, means “gentle night”. A beautiful, young all-black female with mesmerizing eyes, formerly known as Penny Lane when she was in PAWS’ care, she is now “the queen of the Yu house” and is liking the spaces he’s built for her. Jordan’s charity may have been inspired, at least in part, by Yuna, for when he met with PAWS representatives at their office he told them “I love my cat, and I appreciate what PAWS does. I wanted to give something back to PAWS after they give so much to our community.”

Jordan, a 5th grade student at the Galvin Middle School, recently completed this personal project as a member of the school’s Community Service Club, and while doing so, learned how giving his school community can be. Over 2-weeks, during the lunch period, he collected $1006.50 in donations from his peers, fellow 5th and 6th graders. Some of the donated funds came from raffle baskets, the contents of which were donated by his family and by his Club’s mentor, Mr. Vaillancourt. Jordan’s friends assisted him with the raffle and donation collection.

Jordan has a wide range of interests and has become involved in quite a few activities, both school related and outside. He enjoys fencing, swimming, ping-pong, and tennis; anime, coding, Math Club, and Student Council; singing in chorus and playing the viola in the school orchestra. Obviously, he also has an interest in animal welfare. He surprised the PAWS volunteers by announcing that he plans to run another drive in March, this time for the PAWS pet food pantry. To demonstrate his intent, he and his parents brought in two huge bags of puppy and dog food and a large box of dog biscuits.

Robin Gorfine, President of PAWS, expressed thanks on behalf of the rescue group “from the bottom of my heart, for your generosity and initiative” adding that the total raised was amazing, and would “help us with our medical bills, as the adoption fees we charge do not cover the cost of the veterinary care our cats receive”.