Students help upcycle collection from Mugs for Rugs program

Students from La Crosse’s Health Science Academy spent part of their Tuesday morning helping the community.  

Approximately 40 students came to the former fire station on Monitor Street to take part in some construction work.  

“It honestly makes me feel really good. I love to help the community, and we get to help a lot of people with all the partnerships we have,” said Sydney Hanson, a senior at the academy.   

One of the partnerships is between academy students and members of the La Crosse Fire Department. They’re working on the second part of the Mugs for Rugs program.  

The first part of Mugs for Rugs is designed to have seniors exchange throw rugs, a known slipping and fall hazard, for a coffee mug.  

Community Risk Educator Molly McCormick with the La Crosse Fire Department said they collected more than 100 rugs during the program which ran through March.   

“The goal for us is just to raise awareness, even if you didn’t have a chance to turn in a rug, we really want people to think about ways to stay safe,” McCormick said.    

In the second phase of the program, the department and students constructed custom cat scratching posts for cats being adopted out at the Coulee Region Humane Society.  

Hanson was one of the students who helped build the frames, cut the rugs, attach them to the wooden frame, and assemble the pieces together into a scratching post.  

In all, they were aiming to build 40 new posts.  

A group of FFA students from the district’s two high schools are building cat trees using the rugs. When complete, they’ll be auctioned off at Humane Society fundraisers according to McCormick.