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Many homeschooled as well as public schooled kids chose to volunteer in their local community. Sometimes it is hard to find a perfect fit and they will go from service to service until they find it. For us this is a very true statement. Over the past two years Grace has tried multiple service opportunities and some of them have worked out better than others. Five weeks ago we started volunteering two hours every Friday morning at a local no kill animal shelter. They have a very good success rate with adoptions. This is our second try with a different animal shelter. The first just wasn't a good fit for Grace on multiple levels. She was not quite experienced enough to handle all the large dogs at the other shelter. The current shelter usually has many puppies and kittens on hand that Grace can spend time with and help to socialize for their new homes. She also has opportunities to wash dishes and other clean up duties upon arrival.
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Today there were some really great puppies on hand to snuggle and love on. In most instances they will be adopted before we get back next week.
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Today was also the shelter's yearly yard sale to raise money for the facility. I helped out some here while Grace was with the animals. Today she got her first "war wound", scratches from an adult cat that didn't like their belly being rubbed.
Sometimes the volunteer time really gets in the way of school time and I struggle with juggling this, but then I think this is valuable time that is well spent for her and the community.
3 comments:
Oh those puppies. I could sit and snuggle them forever! I think volunteering has as much value as academics and it gives them a chance to be independent, responsible and valuable to an organization. I think that when they look back they most likely will not remember the grammar lesson or the algebra test, but they will remember the moments when they made a difference in someone else's life, whether that is a person or animal!
It is hard balancing all the academic stuff with the all-important "extras" isn't it - at least in the short-term. Int he longer term I find things balance out more easily.
I think volunteering is SO important. I am so glad Grace found a great fit. Keilee liked the Animal Clinic but she mainly did 'chores' and not interaction with the animals. Our Animal Shelter had their annual yard sale Saturday. We couldn't go because of Co-op Showcase. Happy Mother's Day Diane!
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