Students at Eldorado and Sandia High Schools in Albuquerque are building insulated dog houses for low-income residents in their woodshop classes.

Teachers Don Gonzales and Tom Boyd said the rivalry between the two schools leads to fun as students compete to build more items, according to KRQE.

"It teaches them about giving back to the community – how important it is to not only help the unfortunate children but to help the unfortunate pets," Gonzales, the woodshop teacher at Eldorado High School, said.

The city's Animal Welfare Department revealed in October that insulated doghouses were needed, KRQE reported. The organization launched a donation drive to help residents shelter their pets. The demand was so high that Animal Welfare created a free doghouse lottery program.

Gonzales heard about the program and called Boyd.

"I said, 'Hey, do you want to build dog houses?'" Gomez said. "He goes, 'Yeah.' I came up with the design – made it fairly simple and fairly quick for the kids to build it."

The students built 16 doghouses of different sizes within two weeks, according to KRQE. They received $1,000 worth of financial support from Fiesta Subaru.

"It makes me so happy and I appreciate them for that because I'm on disability, and it helps out a lot," Melissa Montoya, who received one of the doghouses, said.

The teachers said the schools might make this an annual event, KRQE reported. Officials from the Animal Welfare Department said many others in the community supported the lottery program, including members of the New Mexico Woodworkers Association, Job Corps, and Johnson Controls. The department is still accepting donations; they can be dropped off at the Westside or Eastside Animal Shelter.