Though Peter Faber, the Jesuit priest and theologian after whom the service house in which I live is named, often spoke about the importance of seemingly-small acts of service, I find that, at times, I feel as though I am not truly contributing to PAWS or helping to save the lives of animals by returning voicemails or by entering a finalized adoption into the computer system. A number of situations and instances at my internship, however, have reminded me that anyone, even if he or she does not appear to be doing anything extraordinary or revolutionary, can make a difference and that, when people work collaboratively, their combined smaller contributions can have a significant impact.
One such instance occurred on the first day of my internship when a young boy walked into the shelter with his mother. When I welcomed them and asked what we could help them with, the boy looked to his mother for reassurance before proceeding to explain to me, through the sweetest little stutter, that, rather than asking for birthday gifts this year, he requested that his friends and relatives give him money to donate to PAWS. He then handed me an envelope filled with checks, cash, and even some coins from his friends that he told me should be used “just to help all of the animals in the world” when asked if he wanted the donation to go toward anything special. At PAWS, there are donors who have written the shelter into their wills and donors who give hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but the donation of this philanthropic little boy means just as much to us as do those larger donations, as they all aid us in feeding and caring for our animals. I felt so honored to have met this young man, who, even at the age of nine, recognized the importance of doing everything he could to contribute to furthering a cause about which he is passionate.
A second situation which I remind myself of each time I feel that my small, day-to-day tasks as an intern do not make any real difference involved an emergency with an animal in which the entire PAWS team, including both staff and volunteers, came together and each did their own small part to save the animal. The dog, later dubbed Yoda, came into our adoption center as an extremely emaciated, sick stray who would not accept food or water and was terrified of people. She obviously needed to be taken to the emergency veterinarian immediately; however, the only people available to drive her were scheduled to volunteer as much-needed Adoption Counselors that day and her costly treatment could not be covered by PAWS, as she was a stray. Fortunately, everyone present rallied around this scared dog, with some volunteers offering to work longer that day or in different roles in order to allow two of their fellow volunteers to leave with Yoda. Additionally, though one of the volunteers who accompanied her to the veterinarian initially accepted the bill for her care himself, a large number of PAWS staff and volunteers contributed anything they could spare in order to help ensure Yoda received the best care possible. Though she still has a long way to go on the road to recovery from her parvovirus, Yoda was officially accepted into the PAWS program after the CEO made an exception to the typically-strict policy against bringing strays directly into our system and is now receiving treatment, learning how to trust humans, and being spoiled by the PAWS veterinary team and a team of volunteers and PAWS staff, all of whom love her to pieces, thanks to the combination of a number of individual, small deeds.
Miss Yoda displaying her trademark ears at the emergency veterinarian (top) and resting and recovering at the PAWS medical clinic (bottom)
It is likely that I am not going to change the world by answering a phone call or by alphabetizing the adoption records from the first half of the year; however, even these small, seemingly-mundane tasks must be carried out in order for PAWS to continue and expand upon its life-saving mission. At my internship, I am constantly inspired by the willingness and even eagerness of people to contribute to causes they believe in in any manner they are able and by how great of an impact these small contributions make. As Peter Faber reminds us, we must “perform small deeds greatly,” and I am thrilled to see this being put into practice all around me at PAWS and to be a small part of their work to give animals like Yoda a wonderful life.
Madison's Musings 