Local Humane Hero Featured in Kind News Magazine
Frankfort, IL (September 20, 2021) – Local youth and humane hero, Rashad Evans, is featured in the September/October 2021 edition of Kind News™ magazine. Kind News is a children’s magazine published by RedRover, a national animal welfare nonprofit.
At the age of 10, Rashad accidentally discovered he could help animals in need. While at his uncle’s house, he found frogs in trouble: they were trapped in his uncle’s basement window wells. The frogs could jump down, but they could not climb back up and out.
After rescuing these frogs, he thought to himself, “There must be many more out there to save!” He started to knock on doors and offer his service to clean out his neighbors’ window wells in suburban Illinois. He found several more frogs, as well as a chipmunk.
In the four summers that Rashad has been cleaning window wells, he estimates he has saved around 500 frogs!
Rashad said, “I loved doing it because I love animals. You should treat animals how you would treat your family.”
One day while Rashad was walking door to door in search of more animals to save, he experienced firsthand what so many Black Americans have faced: a neighbor called the police on him.
That experience, along with the killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, motivated Rashad to use his voice for others. At just 13 years old, he spoke to more than 1,000 attendees at a Black Lives Matter event. He also spoke at the CASEL Virtual Summit last October.
“Always stick up for people who aren’t normally spoken for,” Rashad says. “It’s great to do that because it not only informs everyone but it also includes everyone.”
“What Rashad is doing to help both people and animals is truly inspirational,” said RedRover President and CEO Nicole Forsyth. “It’s so empowering to see him help those in need and speak out against racism, and we hope it will inspire more kids his age to advocate for people and animals.”
Rashad plans to continue helping animals next summer as well as carry on his efforts to speak out against racism.
Kind News uses articles and short features to highlight issues affecting animals, promotes empathy for others, and provides tips for understanding animal behavior, caring for pets, and taking steps to help animals in kids’ communities. Each issue features a young Humane Hero, game or activity, MUTTS comic strip, Critter Clues, and much more.
Do you know a child who goes above and beyond to show kindness towards animals? Submit a kindness story for a chance to be featured on RedRover’s social media and potentially chosen as a Humane Hero: kindnews.org/shareyourstory.
To learn more about Kind News and view Rashad’s feature, visit: KindNews.org.
About Kind News:
Kind News magazine™ is an eight-page, full-color RedRover publication that helps children understand animals and think about why treating animals and people with kindness matters. The publication is available in two reading versions: Kind News, Jr. for grades K-2 and Kind News for grades 3-6, and is distributed five times throughout the school year. The magazine is available in print or as an interactive, digital edition. To learn more visit: KindNews.org.
About RedRover
Since 1987, RedRover has focused on bringing animals out of crisis and strengthening the human-animal bond through emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and education. To learn how RedRover is building a more compassionate world, visit RedRover.org.
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Contact:
Sheri Madsen, 916-600-8157 cell, smadsen@redrover.org