Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) recently received a donation of about 500 towels collected by a local high school student. The gently-used towels will be repurposed as bedding for animals and for cleaning kennels at the Pet Adoption Center in Kent.

“We are grateful for the generosity of our incredibly supportive community,” said Alex Ropes, Animal Shelter Manager at RASKC. “Donation drives of all kinds, from kitchen towels to kitty litter, help us continue to care for pets in our shelter and foster homes.”

As a high school diver, Eric Chen, a rising senior at Newport High School in Bellevue, kept seeing piles of towels in the lost and found at pools around the area.

“At home, we use towels to wash our dogs,” Chen said. “I thought about repurposing those towels for pets that are waiting to be adopted.”

“I put signs up in my neighborhood to get people involved in donating towels,” he added.

He first embarked on this effort a year ago. At that time, his goal was to collect 200 towels and donate them to the Seattle Humane Society’s Eastgate shelter in Bellevue.

“I ended up reaching 776,” Chen said, referring to his initial effort. “That really inspired me to keep going, realizing how much I could achieve. That’s what led me to reach out to other animal shelters.”

Now in his second year, he had collected 1,000 towels by August 15. He’s expanding his impact by donating towels to RASKC for the first time this summer. He is also donating 500 towels to the Seattle Humane Society.

“After doing this project for two summers, I hope people get inspired about how they can make a difference even with small acts,” Chen said. “They can repurpose small things. They can help volunteer. It’s very rewarding and achievable.”