By HANNAH GUNNELL
When Noah McKeown began collecting items for the Johnson County Animal Shelter seven years ago, he had no idea it would grow into such a big family and community tradition.
“It’s just amazing, really,” he said.
The Whiteland High School junior and his family started donating pet supplies to the local shelter to honor the memory of their beloved boxer, Harley. From there, it grew to Noah Helps Pets.
“It was really for my previous dog, Harley, who passed away,” he said. “I wanted to give back to the dogs of the shelter. Our whole family got together and got some things, I think it was 20-25 things.”
His mother, Monica McKeown, clarified they donated 24 items. The following year, they donated again. Then they started getting the community involved. Next thing they knew, it was a tradition. The timing of the drive is based around McKeown’s birthday, Jan. 31. He will be 17 this year.
The drive has raised more items — food, treats, and toys for cats and dogs and cleaning supplies for staff — each year than the year before. Monica started a Facebook page for Noah Helps Pets in 2022 at the recommendation of family members.
“Friends and family told us it was easier for them to share with their friends and family if we started a page, so we started one up for them to help us spread the word,” she said.
From there, the drive’s total donation numbers just got doggone crazy. Last year, Noah raised over 3,500 items. They’ve raised 8,558 items total over the last six years.
So far, they’ve raised 496 items this year. The goal is to raise 1,400 items so they can surpass having raised 10,000 items for the Johnson County Animal Shelter since founding the drive.
“My whole thing on it is like, yes, people see me as this great person for creating this and doing this, when it’s really the community that’s really donating,” Noah said. “We’re just the messengers, the transporters.”
Noah Helps Pets will collect items until Feb. 7. Anyone interested in participating can visit noahhelpspets.com, which links to an Amazon wishlist, or visit physical drop site locations at Hadwell Hardware in Trafalgar, 10 Pins in Franklin, and Pet Supplies Plus – Indianapolis, Indiana – Greenwood. Anyone interested in sponsoring the drive can reach out to the McKeown family at noahhelpspets@gmail.com.
The McKeown family will also have a booth at both the Whiteland boys and girls basketball games against Franklin this weekend. The boys JV team will play at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity team at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24; and the girls JV team will play at noon, followed by the varsity game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.