I’ve had two dream internships within these two years: the Philadelphia Folksong Society and currently, Care About the Strays – Cats for Adoption. My internship in Philadelphia consisted of working closely with my boss and executive director as his mentee for eight months. I scheduled posts for various social media platforms; edited a collaborative film for a “home-footage” festival called The Philadelphia Folk Found Footage Festival; updated the new mobile application for smartphone devices; updated the website, online calendar, online merchandise store (in addition to taking photos).
Finally, I worked for five exhilarating days at the Philadelphia Folk Festival where I was awarded the chance to accidentally bump into Arlo Guthrie backstage. I was speechless for the first time in my life.
This year, however, I hadn’t anticipated taking on any internships with graduate school due to lack of time for work and commute. One day in early January 2016 however, a coworker informed me of an opportunity to work from home as a social media intern for a local cat sanctuary.
A young, non profit organization, C.A.T.S. is an all volunteer, non-profit (501c3) organization working in Rockland County, New York and surrounding areas.The disclosed location in Northern New Jersey are where most of the fosters are currently residing, alongside cats from Magnificat Cat Rescue and Rehoming.
Due to my response, I feel like I was only one to apply at the time! My credentials and education attributes were strong, I’m constantly learning about marketing and sales, acquires passion for nonprofits, and cats. The fact I was going to be able to play with cats during my free time was more appealing than anything.
For years, I volunteered at another local animal shelter, but now was chance to be able to put forth my skills for those who need my help rather than some large firm.
For the last few months, I’ve been constantly on the move and had little time to myself or anyone else. One project I did this semester was for my entrepreneur class. Our “assignment” was to work with a real-world client 
as junior consultants under the guardianship of our professor to assist them with their business in any way we could. Well, that didn’t really happen. The four of us were on our own and once we saw her business plan, we decided to have at it ourselves. Within a week, we were able to create a plan and presentation for her and now, her business is set to launch in mid-July 2016!
My portions of the plan were to cover the Marketing and Operational Plans and Procedures. Nerve-wracking because it was someone’s life-line in my hands, I never learned more about marketing, sales, and what it means to be an entrepreneur – and filmmaker – while being a first-year graduate student. It’s been an exhilarating experience and I’ve got so far to go!
Now, with more time to devote to C.A.T.S., I took the initiative to help the small cat sanctuary in finding more donors and volunteers in addition to my normal tasks. My most recent project is this unboxing video.
I reached out to KitNipBox, a monthly-subscription box for cats filled with treats, goodies, and toys with two options–The Happy Cat KitNipBox for single cats and the Multi-Cat KitNipBox (which they sent to the sanctuary). Not only did they send us a subscription box, in-exchange for a press coverage of an unboxing video, but created a promotional code specially for C.A.T.S. supporters for first-time buyers to receive 15% off on their first KitNipBox, and every time it’s used, C.A.T.S. will also receive 5% of the proceeds from the first box!
KitNipBox is a wonderful organization that contributes to hundreds of animal welfare causes every month and I’m ecstatic that our little cat sanctuary is receiving the recognition it deserves.
Visit Care About the Strays website for more information on adoptable cats, volunteering, fundraising, and fostering.
KitNipBox Promotional Code: CATS15
Photography by Bryan Huth
