Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/30-acts-by-30-care-packages-for-animal-shelter-workers/

Working at an animal shelter is taxing work. It can be rewarding and joyful, but also exhausting and heartbreaking.

Having to work with and care for animals that are neglected, abused, abandoned, and more is not for the faint of heart, and that work is often underappreciated.

To give back to animal shelter workers, Bryan Tsiliacos came up with a thoughtful way to make a difference in their lives. Bryan decided to do something nice for animal shelter workers as part of his commitment to do 30 big acts of kindness before he turns 30 in February 2023.

In an interview with ABC7, Bryan explained that as his 30th birthday approached, he began to feel anxiety about reaching the milestone. That’s when he decided to find a more uplifting way to celebrate the big 30 birthday.

He said, “I pulled out a sheet of paper and started to write down all the things that I was grateful for. And at that moment, I realized that every wonderful thing that has happened to me was thanks to the support and generosity of others.”

It was that realization that gave him the idea to complete 30 acts of kindness before he turned 30. And he didn’t want to just commit small acts of kindness, but big, meaningful acts that would support essential workers across a wide range of fields.

He started an Instagram account to document his progress, @30actsby30. For his first act of kindness, Bryan made 400 flan desserts to share with firefighters in San Jose.

For his second act of kindness, Bryan managed to donate $12,000 worth of supplies to teachers in the Oakland area, including paper, markers, disinfecting wipes, and more. Considering teachers often pay for those materials out of pocket, it’s a really meaningful gift!

Many people wondered what he would do next, and he announced on Instagram that his act of kindness #3 would be providing animal shelter workers with care packages.

To put the care packages togehter, Bryan first had to contact every animal shelter in the San Fransisco area to see how many workers they had. Then, he had to come up with thoughtful items to include the packages, source those items, and contact the appropriate personnel at each shelter to arrange a delivery.

Bryan ended up focusing on items for each package that could benefit the worker’s physical or mental wellbeing. He included healthy snacks, vitamins, and self-care items.

Each of the 118 boxes was quite large so he ended up renting a U-Haul to deliver all of the packages!

Considering how much thankless work animal shelter workers do to care for animals in need, it’s nice to see them getting some recognition and a physical token of appreciation.

Check out the video below:

Bryan still has 27 more big acts of kindness to commit before he hits 30! If you want to follow along and see who else he makes a difference for, you can check out his Instagram here.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog