KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — For the past three years, New Jersey teenager Darius Brown Jr has been helping to get shelter dogs and cats adopted — with his homemade bow ties.
The novel idea started in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma struck Texas and Florida where the enterprising teen saw the damages through a telethon.
He asked his mother, Joy Brown, if they could send money to help families who were impacted, ABC News reported.
She, however, explained to Darius that she didn’t have the means to donate a significant amount of money and told him that if he wanted to help he would need to get creative.
Darius later saw online videos of animals that were being shipped to shelters near him from Florida and Texas following the hurricanes and decided that his bow ties would be his creative way to help.
“At first I didn’t get it,” Joy said.
“He explained that he could donate his bow ties to shelters and if the dogs wear them they’ll be looking cute and dapper and people will want to adopt them.”
Upon hearing that, Joy told her son that it was a great idea and he soon brought his first batch of bow ties to their local shelter.
It was during that visit he learned that some shelters euthanise animals if they aren’t adopted.
It was then that Darius, who was born with fine motor skill delay but learnt how to sew at eight-years-old, decided that he wanted to help as many animals as he could.
Making 10 to 15 bow ties a week, each bow tie taking around 30 minutes to make on his sewing machine at home.
Most of the bow ties are made during the weekend, so it doesn’t interfere with his school work.
As more bow ties are being donated, more requests from shelters started to come in for it and Joy decided to set up a GoFundMe account for Darius so they could raise money for more fabric.
In 2019, Darius and Joy visited seven states and delivered the bow ties to shelters in need.
“At first it’s sad seeing the dogs in their cages,” Darius told ABC News.
“But I just keep reminding myself that I am doing this to help.”
Since starting the initiative, Darius estimates that he has made 400 to 500 bow ties and has helped more than 100 animals find their forever home.
