Friday, May 2, 2008

Gimme Shelter

Jen-E-Jen and I decided to try to get a bit more involved in our community, and we're starting that up by volunteering at our local animal shelter. We found a joint called Citizen's for Humane Action (http://www.chaanimalshelter.org/ ) , who are staffed by approximately 95% volunteers. Wednesday we did Orientation, and then worked our first shift last night. It was really fun. When we showed up we were pretty much put straight to work walking dogs.

This shelter gets each dog out of their dog run multiple times per day. They have a rotating group of volunteers that come in and take them out. It gives them a chance to go sniff some flowers, bark at bicyclists on the paved bike trail right behind the shelter, and roll around in the grass. Last night, there were enough volunteers that every dog was able to get out for 20-30 minutes each. After that, we helped two of the more established volunteers, Ed & Julie, get the dogs settled in for the night and get their breakfast ready.

The cool thing about this was just being around people that are passionate about something. We have been so isolated and hermit-like the past few years, that it's refreshing to be around people that are inspiring. It's addictive. On the drive home, we found ourselves talking about pitching in on other projects for the shelter. I think I'd like to get involved in the Fundraising Committee since they have some cool events that they schedule throughout the year. I think I could learn a lot about Event Planning while doing some good at the same time.

In the meantime though, I'm just going to roll around in the grass with some dogs.

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