Lauren Wood
Community Engagement
Dr. Martin
December 2, 2015
Volunteering At The SPCA
For my final research project, Julia and I decided to team up together and get involved in some community engagement! We chose to do our volunteering at the SPCA, which is a non-profit, no-kill humane organization dedicated to the principle that every life is unique and worthy of protection. Julia and I decided on working with the SPCA because of our shared love of animals. While we were there we learned a lot about the SPCA and what goes on around the organization. We also got first hand experience at what the volunteers do everyday.
Being that the SPCA is a non- profit, self-regulatory organization, the government has no say in the decisions they make because there is no government funding. The SPCA is completely independent from the government. With that being said the SPCA has their own say and power. Some things that they have the power to decide are who to hire, whether or not they are a kill shelter, how much emphasis goes into the screening of families who are adopting, and how to decide to run the facility in general.
Julia and I’s work with the SPCA did not directly impact the community but it did help us get a better understanding of how much the SPCA relies on the community and volunteers. Since the shelter is non- profit, the organization relies greatly on the volunteers. The Fredericksburg SPCA has about 15 different volunteers working with them right now. Some tasks that they do on a day -to -day basis are laundry, clean the kennels, do dishes, feed and walk animals, and host events around the community. Another thing that the SPCA relies on is donation. They get donations at least once a day. The range of things that people donate is very large. Donations can vary from small things like food and cleaning supplies to big donations of money.
Another way the SPCA makes up for being a non profit organization is holding many events around the community to help fundraise and also to spread the word. For example, one event that they hold annually is the “Walk For Animals” which is a 5k walk/run to help fundraise for the organization. While these events are happening they bring the animals out and set up a stand so that the cats and dogs could be adopted right then and there. The worker who spoke with Julia and I noted that most of their animals get adopted from events like this. The SPCA also holds educational classes for children to help them become more aware of the organization. This is a great method because the children are our future and it’s important to be aware of what’s going on around their own community.
Working at the Fredericksburg SPCA was a great experienced. I learned that since the SPCA has no government funding they have all the power to do what they want and make their own decisions. This experience had a great impact on my life.