Seniors Lexi Liberno and Julie Goss raised money and awareness for the Connecticut Humane Society in the school community through their empowerment project called “Cookies for Canines.”

“Cookies for Canines is a project created by Julie Goss and I to raise money and awareness for the Connecticut Humane Society. We set bins in the teachers’ lounge and offices around the school where we had homemade dog cookies and a donation can for optional donations,” Liberno said.

Slips of paper with the Connecticut Humane Society Mission Statement were left with the cookies so that people could learn about the organization and what the funds would be going to. The project was started as part of the empowerment project taught in Government and Law classes. The project called for students to come up with a way to help better their community.

“When we were thinking of ideas for the project we both kept coming back to idea of animals. We wanted to help out animals within our community, so we figured we could do something with the Connecticut Humane Society since its a private organization to help animals in need,” Goss said.

However, there was a more personal reason for the project than just the class requirement.

“The Connecticut Humane Society is an organization very important to me, considering my mom had volunteered there for over 15 years, but I was never, and am still not, old enough to directly volunteer. The next best way to have an impact was to raise funds and awareness for this organization, their purpose, and the animals,” Liberno said.

Government and Law teacher Amanda Roller believes that the empowerment project is beneficial in showing students what they can achieve.

“I think this project does a good job of teaching students that they can enact change if they put time and effort into it. So often in society we see problems and do not believe that we can do anything to help. I think this project teaches students that they can personally impact their community.” Roller said.

The celebration of empowerment was December 13 where students showcased their projects. A total of $41.15 was raised by the Cookies for Canines Project through donations and will all be going to the Connecticut Humane Society.