Monday, December 10, 2012

Looking back and looking forward

This semester, we have accomplished a lot as a group and individually. As a group, we have shown that we can successfully create our own service project and follow through with it. We were all able to complete our 15 hours of service, and each of us actually were able to do more than 15.

What I have learned: This semester, I have learned about all the hard work that it takes in order to run a non-profit organization like CARE so smoothly. I was amazed about how they operate completely off of donations from the community and with help from volunteers, with only about 3 or 4 actual staff members. I have also learned about how cruel people can be to animals, and simply not care about them, because we heard a lot of sad stories about how the animals ended up at the shelter. But I have also met many wonderful staff members and volunteers who do the very best they can for the animals, which is nice to see the passion that they have for their work.

Positive outcomes: For me, it was nice for me to get away from school life and focus on something other than myself for 2 hours each week. It's easy to get caught up in my homework and work, and I get so busy that I never stop to slow down and refocus. When I went to the shelter, I would forget about whatever I needed to do that night or any problems I was having and I would focus on the animals and taking care of them. Also, I became friends with a woman named Lori who I would always talk to while we walked the dogs, and it was really nice. Besides those things, of course a positive outcome was that I got to help alleviate some of the jobs that the people at the shelter needed to do, by contributing some extra help.

In the spring: I want to focus on volunteering even more hours than I did this semester (21.75), which I should be able to do because this semester had a lot of breaks. I also want to help with more mobile adoptions when I can, and help bring awareness about CARE to the Drury community. We could do this by having a clothing drive for the thrift store, or by doing another event such as bringing dogs to Drury so everyone can get a chance to interact with them!

I am looking forward to next semester!

Cathy

(P.S. Photos can be found on the "Pictures" tab)

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