Happy Turkey Month! I love November and am excited to bring you a wonderful (and slightly different edition of) Bay Woof. This month we’ve replaced a couple of our feature articles with short tributes to dog-loving volunteers. So much wonderful work happens in our community, and it all depends on the dedication and commitment of self-motivated volunteers. Our furry friends need individual care and attention, and volunteers provide that and so much more.
You may know that “volunteer” is more than just a term we use for the loving, helping hands that join us for unpaid work. In botany, a volunteer is a rogue seed that sprouts up in a planned patch of garden or crop. Sometimes known as a “garden bonus,” these unexpected plants find their way into an otherwise domesticated crop, providing diversity, strength, and a surprise. I think this is a great way to think about human volunteers as well. Here’s a common definition for a botanical volunteer (this description can be found sprouting up all over the web), and I especially like for its appreciation of volunteers: Volunteers often grow from seeds that float in on the wind, are dropped by birds, or are inadvertently mixed into compost. Unlike weeds, which are unwanted plants, a volunteer may be encouraged by gardeners once it appears, being watered, fertilized, or otherwise cared for. The action of such plants—to sprout or grow in this fashion—may also be described as volunteering.
Can we use this description as an analogy for our beloved volunteers? I think so. They may “grow from seeds” as we see in “Valued Volunteers Speak” . Michelle Douglas, who has cultivated a love of volunteering with her children in fostering dogs over the years, shows how seeds grow to become strong contributors. They may “float in on the wind” like Megan Hart who didn’t plan to help out at the Rocket Dog event, but was hooked after one day with dogs. They may be “dropped by birds,” like Julie Diego (“Grateful Tributes to Volunteers”), who wasn’t ready to retire from paid work, but found a way toward fulfilling work by volunteering. I’m sure glad those birds decided to let her go. Or they may sprout from compost. I won’t say any of our volunteers were the product of decomposing agricultural waste, but I love to think of you all as beautiful flowers or a fat zucchini coming out of the moist, fertile compost heap.
“Unlike weeds, which are unwanted plants, a volunteer may be encouraged by gardeners once it appears, being watered, fertilized, or otherwise cared for.” We know that appreciative dogs and employees of shelters, support-providers, and rescue facilities are the key to keeping a volunteer well-watered and motivated. The love and community that volunteers get in return for their time and energy is often multiplied. Volunteering is a two-way street. If your shelter or agency has lots of dedicated, returning volunteers, you can bet it’s because you have created a warm, welcoming, rich soil for them to grow and flourish.
One last piece of this analogy is the idea of a garden volunteer bringing color, sweetness, and surprise to its new surroundings. Thank you, volunteers, for not just having the desire to help, but for finding a place to put down roots. Our Bay Area dog community thrives in large part due to your awesome presence.
Speaking of appreciation, guess what’s coming up! Beast of the Bay Awards 2016 (BoBA2016). Bay Woof’s annual readers’ poll, where voters choose their favorite canine-related-everything from walkers to vets to favorite view with a dog, opens on November 1. It’s time to get on your thinking caps, focus your scrutinizing eyes, and cast your loyal votes in more than 50 categories. Voting is online here: BayWoof.com/BoBA2016.
Winners will be announced in the April 2016 issue, and the Awards party will happen at El Rio on April 9. Don’t miss it!
Well, everyone, I hope this edition of Bay Woof inspires you to float on over to your local shelter and find a volunteer spot, but I also hope you enjoy our other articles. November Bay Woof is not just packed with volunteers, we’ve got lots of stories and info about dogs around the Bay. Happy Thanksgiving. We sure are grrrrrateful for you.
– Kate Lorch, Editor
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