It was a balmy ten o’clock on a Saturday morning in June; the thick air around the Humane Society smelled vaguely of livestock. Stepping into the air-conditioned chill of the shelter, I took a breath, signed in to the volunteer portal, and took my place at the front desk. On this particular day the first people waiting were an older couple, and my heart sank when I saw them. The husband had a bundle in his arms, something wrapped in an old comforter, and I had worked the front desk long enough to know what that meant. Sure enough, as they approached, the blanket shifted and I saw, as I knew I would, the white muzzle and emaciated face of a dog in the decrepit last stages of old age. Her name was Daisy, the wife told me in a tight voice, and
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Noticing that one of the rooms that we used for adoption visits was open, I offered them a place to say their goodbyes in privacy. In doing that, I genuinely feel that I was able to make a difference for them, if only a small one.
I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences in the course of my volunteer work - I’ve herded bison and helped kids learn to read and arranged adoption visits for everything from eyeless kittens to three-legged dogs. But while all those times were educational and often incredibly fun, they weren’t necessarily the most impactful things I’ve done. The experiences that have meant the most to me are the ones that make me think deeply and feel more connected not just to my life but to the lives of others.
On the surface, bearing witness to the end of Daisy’s life was primarily a lesson in sadness. But because my volunteering experiences brought me face-to-face with that same experience over and over, I started to think about it more deeply, and I realized that the grief we feel for our animals is emblematic of a profound human capacity to love, beyond our species and beyond usefulness (Daisy had only been a pet, after all). Experiences like these are why volunteering is so incredibly important to me. Not only does it provide a way to improve communities (whether on a large or a small scale), but it draws us closer
Noticing that one of the rooms that we used for adoption visits was open, I offered them a place to say their goodbyes in privacy. In doing that, I genuinely feel that I was able to make a difference for them, if only a small one.
I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences in the course of my volunteer work - I’ve herded bison and helped kids learn to read and arranged adoption visits for everything from eyeless kittens to three-legged dogs. But while all those times were educational and often incredibly fun, they weren’t necessarily the most impactful things I’ve done. The experiences that have meant the most to me are the ones that make me think deeply and feel more connected not just to my life but to the lives of others.
On the surface, bearing witness to the end of Daisy’s life was primarily a lesson in sadness. But because my volunteering experiences brought me face-to-face with that same experience over and over, I started to think about it more deeply, and I realized that the grief we feel for our animals is emblematic of a profound human capacity to love, beyond our species and beyond usefulness (Daisy had only been a pet, after all). Experiences like these are why volunteering is so incredibly important to me. Not only does it provide a way to improve communities (whether on a large or a small scale), but it draws us closer