Alyssa Howard
How important is community service to you? Have you ever thought of all the organizations within your community that desperately need volunteers to assist in their services? Look around; you will easily find an organization to share your time with.
Community service is one of the National Panhellenic Council’s strong values. We strive to serve our university and our community the best we can. For the past couple of weeks we have held a donation drive for The Texarkana Animal Shelter. The donations we needed were dog and cat food, cleaning supplies, blankets and/or towels, and coins. At the end of the two weeks, we raised 20 dollars in coins, several sacks of 16, 50, and 100 pound dog food, 16 pound sacks of cat food, cans of dog and cat food, cleaning supplies, towels, and blankets. We want to give our appreciation to everyone that contributed to our donation drive.
Last Sunday we delivered all of the donations to the shelter and volunteered for three hours. We showed up on a perfect day, because they needed a big cleaning before the mayor comes in two weeks. There were 13 of us that arrived to work, so we split up into two groups. One group went downstairs, and the rest of us worked upstairs. First, we washed and dried all of the food bowls. Of course we made an assembly line, that way we could get the job done quicker.
After we washed dishes, we scrubbed every pen with a detergent/bleach mixture. Warning: if clumps of hair grosses you out, do not scrub the floor of a dog pen with a sponge. It was quite comical hearing some of the girls gagging and squealing. It was also great to see the teamwork happening while cleaning the pens. After we finished a couple of them, there seemed to be a pattern that we caught on to. Everyone had a certain job that they did, and it worked perfectly.
Next, we did laundry and organized one of the closets full of blankets, towels, and rugs. After we finished, our curiosity got the best of us, and we decided to travel downstairs to check on the other girls. Upon arriving, we learn that they have been holding some of the most adorable puppies we have ever seen. As soon as we saw small, fluffy balls of playfulness, we were sold. Minutes later, we discover a carrier full of another ten puppies. Our minds became overloaded with happiness. The employees could tell we were puppy lovers, so we got to bathe about 13 puppies. It was very interesting to see the difference in puppy personalities during bath time. Some went completely stiff, others went “panic attack mode” and splashed soap and water all over the place. In other words, bath time was quite comical.
At the end of our volunteer experience, the employees gave us their deepest appreciation. We made their day much easier, while their animals made our hearts warmer. If anyone is looking for community service hours or just wants to volunteer their time to help the community, please consider going to The Texarkana Animal Shelter. They can always use help and donations. Also, if anyone is looking for a new pet, please adopt one from the shelter. There is an abundance of sweet animals that need a loving home. The best pets are rescue animals.
How can you deny that face?
By:Alyssa Howard
(I copied and pasted the images, but let me know if they showed up or not please. I can send them to you, if not.)