EAST VILLAGE — Donations are few and far between at Mighty Mutts & Ollie's Place, an all-volunteer, no-kill animal rescue organization, after the holiday season.
So one volunteer took it upon himself to shovel cars out from the under the snow after Saturday's historic blizzard as a means of galvanizing their owners' charitable instincts.
"Your car was shoveled out of the snow for FREE on the evening of Tuesday, January 2016," read an unsigned, typewritten note the volunteer placed on a car parked between Avenues A and B on Seventh Street Tuesday, as posted by EV Grieve. "If you would like to show your gratitude you could make a small donation to Mighty Mutts Animal Rescue ... If not, that is fine and enjoy the free shoveling."
He left a similar message on another car in the neighborhood Wednesday evening, EV Grieve reported.
In an anonymous interview with the blog, the mysterious snow shoveler said his actions were inspired by the simple fact that he enjoys shoveling snow.
"I actually put an ad up on Craigslist offering free snow shoveling services to those who were unable to do it themselves but didn't get any responses," he said. "So [on Tuesday], I just grabbed my shovel and found a car that was deeply buried and figured I would just shovel it out, which I did."
After he'd finished, he realized the car's owner might want to know just who his snow angel was, so he took his typewriter out (his printer was broken, his penmanship bad), typed out a note and added a line about Mighty Mutts because, he said, "I have been volunteering there for a long time and I’m always trying to find new ways to help them out."
"I think I have done four cars with this type of note, and will try to do a couple more before alternate-side parking starts again" Monday, he told EV Grieve.
The organization — which did not know about the snow shoveler's plan beforehand — was grateful to him, said volunteer coordinator Jillian Haynes. She declined to share his name because he's "a bit media-shy."
"Any positive, helpful gestures that encourage people to donate and spread the word about our organization are wonderful," she said in an email to DNAinfo New York.
Mighty Mutts' adoption centers in Union Square and in the East Village are in particular need of monetary donations and dog and cat food after the holidays and in inclement weather, when foot traffic declines, she explained.
Those interested in giving to the organization can donate here.
