The Mother’s Comfort Project

During their monthly bed-sewing sessions, volunteers for the Mother’s Comfort Project share everything from tips on how to raise public awareness of at-risk shelter animals to silly stories about their pets at home. Susan Brandt, 44, a Battery Park resident and the founder of the nonprofit organization Rational Animal, started the MCP last year with the goal of donating 1,000 cage comforters to the Brooklyn Animal Care & Control shelter. The group, now 75 members strong, is well on its way. We asked Brandt and two other volunteers to explain the power of puppy (and cat) love.

What makes these beds special? “They smell nice, and they’ve all been handled by people. It’s a human touch,” says Brandt. “After we put them into the cages, the animals totally appreciate it: They smush their heads against you, and it makes you want to cry.”

How did you get involved? “I adopted my dog, a pit bull mix, from a city shelter five years ago. If I came only a few days later, she would have been killed,” says volunteer Krysta Vollbrecht, 28, of Harlem. “My dog is an angel. She inspires me to help other shelter animals.”

But why this cause? “It draws on people’s creativity and compassion,” says 28-year-old Upper East Side volunteer Courtney Kistler. “Delivering the beds gives us a chance to see the reality of the homeless animal population, and that the animals up for adoption are wonderful companions that would thrive in a person’s home.”

How can TONY readers help? Reserve a space at the Saturday 25 and June 27 MCP sewing parties at Flirt Brooklyn (303 Third Ave between Carroll and 1st Sts, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn; 917-239-9229, rational-animal.org; noon–4pm; materials provided, no sewing experience necessary) by e-mailing Amy Waldowski at awaldowski@rational-animal.org, or stop by with a donation of clean linens for the cages.

—Sharon Steel

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