Page 27 - March24

Volunteering While Vacationing
Tips for finding ways to give back
by MeLinda Schnyder
The first time we volunteered at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, the staff at the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals tasked me and my husband with socializing a litter of puppies that had recently been dumped. The goal was to show them some love and help get them comfortable being handled, one of the first steps toward making them adoptable.
Whether this was a marketing ploy or simply what needed to be done that day, it worked. When our half-day volunteer shift ended, we signed up to come back the next day – our last before leaving the area to continue exploring Utah’s national parks. Our next assignments at the sanctuary were walking dogs and cleaning food bowls. We have taken several more trips to Utah and have made time to volunteer while there. My husband always chooses to spend time in Dogtown, doing anything from walking dogs and scooping poop to reading books to a skittish canine that eventually calmed down enough to be touched. I’ve also taken shifts in Cat World, petting felines recovering from surgery and prepping food.
Prior to our experiences at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, I assumed most organizations weren’t interested in or equipped to take transient volunteers. I knew you could take entire vacations dedicated to volunteering, but I didn’t realize there were so many options requiring as few as a couple of hours. It’s quite amazing how well Best Friends integrates volunteers daily, making those of us spending our time there feel like we have truly helped the animals as well as the nonprofit’s staff.
Volunteering while vacationing isn’t something we work into every trip, but what a worthy goal that would be.
“It’s an honorable thing to leave a place just as you found it. But taking that a step further and sharing a bit of your time and talent to leave that special place in even better shape demonstrates a true appreciation for a community and leaves you connected in a way you never could have imagined otherwise,” Elisabeth Silverthorne, executive director of the Beach Food Pantry, said in marketing materials devoted to volunteerism in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Starting with my experience at Best Friends, I’ve provided some examples below of the types of volunteer work you might find no matter your destination.
Animal Welfare
A majority of the 1,600 animals living at the 3,700-acre Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southern Utah’s Kanab Canyon are dogs and cats, though there are separate areas for other animals including horses, pigs, parrots,
MARCH 2024
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