SEBASTIAN — When it comes to birthday gifts, most kids have an endless wish list of items they desire, from bicycles to Barbies.
But when his 10th birthday was drawing near, all Trevor Schiff wanted for the occasion was cat and dog food.
“It didn’t matter the size. I got 5-pound and 10-pound bags; some 20-pound and 40-pound bags, too,” Schiff says of the gifts brought to his birthday party in late October.
Sure, Trevor, the only child of David and Stefani Schiff of Palm Bay, could use the food – totaling 300 pounds – to feed the family’s two dogs and three cats for months (they also have a hamster and fish in the household).
However, the grub wasn’t for them.
Instead, Trevor donated all of it to Helping Animals Live and Overcome (H.A.L.O.) Rescue, a Sebastian-based animal shelter with the mission of making Indian River County a safe place for animals.
This year was the third consecutive birthday that Trevor traded in getting traditional presents for the the gift of giving to those in need.
“Basically, when I give them the food, it makes me feel happy because I know that somewhere out there, there’s an animal that will get taken in by that shelter and they will have food to eat,” says Trevor, who remembers going with his mother in 2005 to a similar shelter in Brevard County to pick up the family’s first pet, a black lab named Morgan.
“We have so many pets in our house, and love all of them,” he adds.
“Just thinking about all of these animals out there that are lost, without a home, and starving. You kind of want to help them, especially if you are an animal lover.”
HALO founder Jackie Petrone agrees.
In fact, giving back to those animals that give so much love to others is one of the main reasons she and her family started the rescue shelter
“Our mission is to rescue abandoned and/or abused animals and find them forever homes,” says Petrone, who started the no-kill, non-profit shelter in 2006 with three abandoned kittens.
The shelter averages about 200 animals any given time, and has nine full-time employees and a host of volunteers who help to socialize the animals.
“We just believe that every animal is adoptable,” says Petrone, adding that the shelter houses animals ranging from cats and dogs, to guinea pigs and even rats.
“HALO has been blessed to have a lot of people who believe in what we do and make donations. However, we always desperately need the support because our adoption fees don’t even begin to cover the medical needs of some of our animals,” she adds.
That’s why Trevor’s donations matter so much.
“Trevor and his mother, Stefani, totally get what we are trying to do here. Their donations help in such a big way,” she says.
In addition to Trevor, Petrone says she knows of only one other youth that has made a similar sacrifice to benefit the shelter.
“Daniel Schweitzer of Vero Beach raised $325 for the shelter by asking for money in lieu of birthday gifts,” she says.
Daniel’s donation, made in September, helped to pay for surgery for a basset hound named Derek, whose ear canal had to be removed after it was broken due to abuse. The dog is now pain-free and ready for adoption.
“It is definitely a rare thing to have people as young as Trevor and Daniel make these kinds of donations. For them to be so compassionate and aware at only 10 years of age is very special,” Petrone says.
“Children like that are going to do amazing things when they get older.”
David Schiff isn’t surprised by his son’s philanthropy and compassion.
“He gets it naturally from his mother. When I met Stefani, I knew what I was in for, and as Trevor got older, he just took after her,” Schiff says.
Stefani Schiff grew up on a ranch in Texas with a mother that worked for a veterinarian and a father who ran a kennel. Her family didn’t have any less than three animals at a time living with them.
“There’s just something about taking in animals, caring for them, loving them and seeing how happy they become that gives you such an indescribable joy. No matter what happened to them in the past, they are so grateful when they find that loving home, they give so much love.”
Stefani Schiff says her son has a good heart and chose on his own to donate to an animal shelter.
“I believe that by having pets in our home, Trevor has learned to be a generous individual. That generosity extends to both animals and people,” she says.
She adds that HALO is the ideal place for her son to direct that generosity because of the shelter’s mission and the kindness of its workers.
Trevor says he has learned a lot about the benefits that come with giving to others and likes the feeling.
“I’m either thinking about being a scientist or working with computers when I grow up. But no matter what I do, I know I will continue to help animals in some way,” he says.