At Crescent Harbor, students are taking a stand on an age-old battle: dogs vs. cats.

K-Kids, a club sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Oak Harbor, holds a charity drive every December for dog and cat treats, food, toys and more.

The donations are then given to Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation, or WAIF.

Whichever species gets the most donations is declared the winner.

Debbie Longland, the teacher-leader of the K-Kids and a self-proclaimed cat person, said that, for this drive, “the goal is for the cats to win.”

The annual drive isn’t the only one the K-Kids are doing for WAIF this year.

Every year, the K-Kids choose projects to support the school, the community or the world, and for the first time, the K-Kids have chosen to focus on one organization for their projects for a whole year, something Longland said is “kind of exciting.”

That organization is WAIF.

When it came time to choose their charities of the year, Longland said the choice became really clear.

“The animals and the shelter … kept coming up time after time,” she said.

“Of course, they love the animals.”

Aside from the annual dog vs. cat drive, the K-Kids are also holding a year-long drive for towels and blankets to donate to WAIF.

Blankets are used as beddings in the kennels, and towels are used for baths, Longland said.

“We’re doing that all year long.

“We’re telling families that, as you come across gently used blankets or towels (that they don’t want anymore), consider donating them to WAIF,” she said.

Though it is a K-Kids drive, everyone in the school is welcomed and encouraged to participate.

“The K-Kids … serve as a leadership group in our school,” said Principal Kathleen Valenzuela. “They’re a great group of kids.

“They come up with these projects and then get the whole school involved.”

Anyone from the community as a whole is welcome to donate as well; items for the drive can just be dropped off at the front office.

The dog vs. cat drive ends Dec. 17, but the blanket and towel drive will last throughout the rest of the 2014-15 school year.

“I think it’s great when kids have an opportunity to serve others and serve their community and look beyond the walls of this school and see and identify needs and do what they can to help out,” Valenzuela said.

“It’s always wonderful when our kids do this.”