Level Three. Volunteer.
Level Three – Volunteer.
By Michelle Lloyd.
At school R V had been engrossed in a new idea that had been introduced to them. Volunteers were people who could do something for someone else and often this would be in any spare time that they had. Some people donated their time because they knew they could be of aid to someone else. New One, who was sat next to RV, listened and liked what he heard. He was even more glad to hear of what their assignment would be because he knew that there was someone for whom he would love to volunteer.
Lana was their pet pooch and New One’s passionate pal. He loved her and she loved him. In fairness though Lana had not always had such an easy life of it and before she had come to live with New One and his family, she had been involved in a not so easy life without much love at all.
New One knew that because of how Lana had ended up with them she had been given a different life and he also knew that there were many other dogs like her who did not have that good a start at being able to live in a love-filled home. When his parents were asking to see if anyone had known of where Lana belonged before they had taken her in, they had approached many dog shelters in their area.
Dog shelters and trusts were foundations that had been set up to look after those animals who did not have a home. Many dogs could be found there who were abandoned, neglected or simply handed over for want of a better life and home. When New One heard about his school assignment the first thought that came to him was about their Dog Shelter and all those volunteers that he knew they must need.
Everyone had discussed their ideas, thoughts and then told their teacher who they were going to volunteer for and why. It was then that New One told of his idea about the dog shelter and why he felt that because of Lana, it was there, that he would like to volunteer. While the teacher thought that New One’s idea was extremely commendable she also explained that one had to be of a certain age to actually go in and do many of the required jobs.
New One could not help but look and feel sad and it was then that his teacher went on to say that there were many other positive things that they could do for the dog’s trust and if he gave her a bit of time she was sure that she could come up with the ideal volunteer project.
New One’s teacher got in touch with the dog’s rehoming organisation for him and asked about what would be the best way of raising awareness and doing something to volunteer. Quickly it was decided that the being able to inform people about the work that went on at the shelter would be a help and that this was a volunteer project that far from New One doing on his own, would ideally take each and everyone in his class.
New One was happy to hear that his teacher had talked with the trust designated for dog and even happier to know that he could do something to volunteer for them BUT he was less happy to know that everyone in his class would be joining him and his efforts he was not sure exactly why he felt like that.
It was decided that the school would have a fund raising event in honour of the trust for dogs and that instead of individual volunteering the class could use this as a group project to learn what was needed to raise awareness for those dogs who needed it. The idea was ideal his teacher thought and while New One, at first, liked to know that his thought had brought about such a lot of positivity he had to admit that having everyone so keen to help was a bit overwhelming. It seemed that everyone in the class LOVED dogs and after a while New One found that some had even claimed that the volunteer for the dog’s trust had been their idea, something that he was not at all happy about. R V and Little Herbert tried to dissuade him from going to tell the teacher about his anxiety because what really mattered was that the dog’s trust got helped. The class split up and some worked on how the information was put down about what the dog’s shelter did, some baked biscuits and brought them to the designated stall and on the actual day everyone took part in either running races, face painting or putting on a talk about what being a helper for the dog’s trust actually meant.
It was awesome to see the many who turned up to support the trust, there were those who had dogs from the shelter, those who wanted to hear about it and even people who gave a speech about what fostering a dog could do. There were some dogs who could not be put into kennels while they waited for a forever home and these could include: puppies, dogs who were injured, dogs who had certain medical needs, older dogs or if there was no more room at the shelter then again fostering a dog could be vital. All in all there was much to learn about what volunteering could mean and that one did not have to only fit into one category to help.
New One watched with trepidation as his class took over their duties, tasks and occasionally they had to work on something together and having seen how many achievements they made on the day did somewhat alleviate his upset about who was doing what and who had which idea first. What really made it a special day though was seeing some of the specifically invited dogs who had found a home filled with love because of their new owners and when Lana turned up to see how they were all doing New One got lots of licks of appreciation. The volunteer for a dog’s trust event turned out to teach them such a lot about what they could do to improve another life, they raised money and according to Lana’s licks and play time with the other dogs, the project was a huge achievement.