Eight-year-old from Merritt donates a truckload of goods to Kamloops SPCA

MERRITT, B.C. — An eight-year-old girl from Merritt made a significant donation to the Kamloops and District SPCA.

Vanessa van Rensburg says her daughter Kate worked for nearly a month to donate a truckload of items that the SPCA says was worth nearly $3,500. Kate’s inspiration comes from what van Rensburg describes as a lot of compassion for animals and people.

“We have three dogs, two cats and fish, and she would have a farm-full if she could,” van Rensburg told CFJC Today. “During the floods, there was a lot of help for people but maybe not so much for animals. We reached out to various [animal shelters], here as well as Princeton, but we got feedback from Kamloops.”

While the van Rensburgs were personally spared during mid-November’s flooding in Merritt and chose to stay home, they saw how it impacted their neighbours who weren’t as fortunate.

“The people who did stay behind would trade things to help one another out… it makes you look at things a little different if it’s at your front door,” she says.

Nearly three months after the flood, Kate set up a donation drop-off point outside her family’s front door and set up posters around the city. The campaign evolved into companies donating items and vouchers, and Kate creating homemade ladybugs which she sold door-to-door, at the local Save-on Foods and Merritt Centennials home games.

Van Rensberg says the SPCA showed appreciation when Kate and her father donated the truckload of items. The SPCA said in a social media post that they were still providing for those affected by the wildfires and floods of 2021. The SPCA adds they sent some of Kate’s donations to the Lillooet Food Bank.

Van Rensberg says Kate and their family will always search for other fundraisers to do, and they hope Kate’s work inspires others to help their neighbours.