My little volunteer

The week before Thanksgiving I started taking Buddie to the Enterprise Health and Rehab Center here in town. I had called the week before to find out if they allowed animals to come in and interact with the residents and they said YES! So our first trip there was kind of short but fun. We didn't go again until the week after Thanksgiving and have gone 3 times since then. Each trip ends up being about an hour. Buddie loves all of the attention and does so well with the residents. He will put his paws up on their laps or on the sides of their wheelchairs if they can't reach him and then when he is done he gets down and starts going to the next place. He is really beginning to know his way around the building and always gets excited when I pull into the parking lot. A lot of the people that we see are starting to remember him and even the employees love seeing him when he comes in and just think that he is so cute and fluffy.

There is one lady named Mable that just adores Buddie. She is one of the residents and the first time she saw Buddie we were on our way out to the car and she asked me if I would bring him by her room the next time I came. I told her that I would and let me tell you, when Buddie walked into her room last Friday she just lit up. She looked at me and said, 'I just knew you weren't lying to me, I just knew you would come back to see me.' She held Buddie and took pictures with him.

I knew that Buddie visiting would be a great experience but it has also made me think. How many times has somebody said to one of those residents that they would be back to see them and never came? How long has that person waited and waited just to be disappointed? By me simply following through on a simple request I was able to change that woman's life in a small way. There are 7 halls in the facility, all filled with rooms, sometimes with 2 people to a room. How many of them don't have visitors or don't have any family? To many times we as human beings don't realize how lucky we are to have the families that we have, the friends that we have, or the generally healthy lives that we have. What would it look like if for one day a month you would volunteer an hour of your time to read a book or play chess with somebody at a nursing home? What if we gave one hour of our time to volunteer at an Animal Shelter or Children's Hospital?

I am not saying all of this because it is the holidays and the season of giving. I think that it is important to help out those families in need during the holidays but I don't think it should stop there. People need support, help, cheering up, whatever you want to call it, all year round. Some of you may be saying, 'I don't have the money to donate or money to buy food to feed other people besides my family.' That is okay, help out at a soup kitchen, help with Special Olympics, volunteer your time somewhere that needs help. Take your kids with you! Volunteering helps kids learn compassion, responsibility, integrity, understanding, selflessness, and the list could go on. Don't be afraid for your kids, if they meet somebody who is different from them use it as a teaching tool and help them learn.

Don't make excuses as to why you can't. What if your parents or grandparents were there? What if your child was in a hospital for a long period of time? Doctors, nurses, and other employees are great but volunteers are there for that extra touch of home and heart. Please think about it, your life can't be so busy that you can't take an hour and give it to somebody else and if it is...slow down.