EVITA Costume Designers Join Rational Animal in Hurricane Relief for Shelter Animals

Rational Animal is proud to be working with Broadway's Evita costume designers in an emergency Mother's Comfort Project relief effort for animal shelters after Hurricane Sandy.

The costume department of Evita has taken great pride in sewing over 100 beautiful beds using Rational Animal's donation from Polartec fleece and James Perse gently used t-shirts. "Marmaduke" sized beds down to "Sylvester" sized beds will be delivered to a local shelter in need this Thanksgiving weekend on Saturday, November 24.

Says the founder of Rational Animal, Susan Brandt : "This is an amazing kick off in our collaboration with Broadway to bring pet beds to the NYC homeless animals who need some mother's comfort at this difficult time."

Due to the influx of displaced pets and flood damage to many shelters and rescue groups after the destruction of the hurricane, organizations are in dire need of basic supplies for the pets they have taken under their wing.

The costume department at Evita have graciously joined forces with Rational Animal to spend their down time throughout production sewing pet beds to be delivered to a rescue group in need. Last Saturday Rational Animal delivered a load of pet beds to Bideawee in Wantagh, New York whose organization suffered massive flooding and was in desperate need of supplies and beds.

Rational Animal's Mother's Comfort Project regularly holds sewing events with local volunteers to provide homemade beds and toys for municipal shelter animals in need of love and comfort.

There are hundreds - if not thousands - of animals in need across the region. Please consider volunteering at your local shelter or making a donation. Rational Animal is always looking for more sewing volunteers to help with their Mother's Comfort Project.

Visit www.rational-animal.org to learn how you can help or Contact Susan Brandt at sbrandt@rational-animal.org for further information about upcoming sewing events.

New York City's municipal shelters are harsh. Dogs, cats and other animals are housed in small cages and bedding often consists of towels.

Through their Mother's Comfort Project, Rational Animal provides comfy homemade beds for animals to curl-up in and muffle the noise. We also make catnip toys adorned with orange animal guardian ribbons. The beds and toys are sewn by Rational Animal volunteers and school clubs at sewing studios in Brooklyn. They are delivered to Animal Care & Control where we place them inside cages and give pats of hope to weary souls.

Over 3,500 beds and 2,000 toys have been made through the Mother's Comfort Project and brought to Animal Care and Control, providing a comfortable place for a homeless animal to sleep. But there are thousands of animals in NYC shelters, and we want to make this year a little warmer for all of them.

Rational Animal uses media and special events to increase public awareness about NYC's at-risk animals. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit working to improve the lives of homeless animals, working animals, and wildlife by using media to communicate the actions people can take to help animals and prevent harm to them.

We work with media professionals and companies, celebrities and artists to create original, entertaining and informative materials for broadcast in New York City and communities nationwide. We also help raise money for rescues and shelters so they can carry out their vital work of caring for needy animals.

Founder Susan Brandt created Rational Animal in 2002. She believed that with so many animals' lives at risk due to the actions of humans either intentionally or not, providing more humane education to the public and in schools will lead to better lives for more animals in the future.

Rational Animal is driven by a core of professionals, including writers, artists, musicians, graphic designers, filmmakers, photographers and editors - all animal lovers who donate their time and skills toward media campaigns and special projects focused on public awareness.