I am very close to the end of my special project and I may be given the thumbs up to write the blog tomorrow. In the meantime, I decided to blog about how I stumbled upon volunteerism and how this adventure has changed my life.
It all started when I attended a United Way event a few years back. The speaker that year spoke of following your passion and finding an organization that could use your help. In the past, I always thought that there weren't enough hours in the day. Well, there were and there still are only 24 hours in the day. If you have the passion and make the commitment, you will find the time. Presently, I couldn't imagine a better use of my spare (few hours) time then following my passion for homeless dogs.
When I first started volunteering at the Bangor Humane Society, I needed to show commitment by volunteering 20 hours before starting the Dog's Day Out program. I would show up at 8 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon most weekends to walk dogs on their premises. At the beginning, it felt like I would never reach this goal - but soon time flew and this experience added to my adventures with BHS. Once I started with Dog's Day Out, it took on a life of it's own. My husband is always commenting that I should be paying them. This has become a very important part of my life.
Every community has it's share of agencies in need of volunteers. Your passion may not be dogs, cats or other furry friends. Your passion may be youth sports, reading to elderly, helping at a soup kitchen, etc. All I ask, is that you volunteer a few hours a week for a few months. If you find that you are not feeling the rewards of volunteerism with a particular agency, look further. Once you have found your passion, it will pay you back ten-fold.
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