An Ontario cottager and animal lover has cashed in thousands of empties to finance a new veterinary scholarship at the University of Guelph.
“Student book expenses are very high,” says Jill McDowell. “This is a chance for a future vet to work hard on the books and not have to have a job.”
The Kahshe Lake, Ont., cottager has lived with animals for all her life: her mother bred Irish terriers through Jill’s childhood, and Jill has fostered dogs for many years as an adult. So, when she met an elderly woman who couldn’t afford her dog’s vet bill a few winters ago, not only did Jill pay for it in full, she started researching other ways to support pet owners in need.
“At my island cottage, I began to notice that people were just dumping their alcohol empties in either the recycle bin or putting them into the garbage,” says Jill. “That was the answer.” In 2021, she set up two dedicated collection bins, one on her property and one next to the lake’s Rockhaven Inn, and urged her neighbours to donate their bottles so she could return them to beer and liquor stores for refunds. The more than $2,000 she raised that year went to the Farley Foundation, which subsidizes low-income pet owners in Ontario.
“The project came off the ground quickly. Cottagers were happy to see their empties going to good use,” she says, adding that she’s cashed in 150,000 empties since the project started. “I’d spend 10 to 15 hours a week counting them all, packing them into clear garbage bags, and heading off with a very full trailer to The Beer Store for the refund money. The kind people there would say, ‘Oh no, here she comes again!’ “
After donating to the Farley Foundation, she set her sights on helping young veterinarians by starting the new Kahshe Lake Scholarship. The award will grant $5,000 to several University of Guelph students in year three of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program. Jill chose the university because of the unforgettable “care and dedication” its veterinarians showed while giving one of her dogs chemotherapy and radiation treatments before the pandemic.
“This is just another way to avoid empties ending up in the landfill and help animals, as well as help young talented people to become veterinarians.”
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