Community Service Positions Working with Animals

Animals in Community Service

Hello and welcome! In this guide, we’ll be covering the foundations for community service, like what it is and why you should do it. We’ll then go into specific positions you can do that involve cute, furry animals! 🐶

What is Community Service? 🤔

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First, what exactly is community service? To keep it simple, it’s work someone does not for monetary compensation (💸), but rather for improving one’s community. If you’re interested, we go more in-depth about community service here. 💪

Why Do Community Service? 🤝

Everyone should do community service at some point in their lifetime! It enables youth to become active members of their community and increases their sense of responsibility. Community service also improves other vital life skills like leadership and communication while helping those who need it. 👑

Also, as a high school student, you might need service hours for organizations such as the National Honor Society (NHS) or want another extracurricular activity. Participating in community service can demonstrate how holistic you are and even help you out during college or scholarship applications. 📝

Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Doing Community Service ❓

🌏 Who/What Do I Want to Work With?

Before finding a random community service project, find something that you are passionate about and want to dedicate your time to improving! This makes the overall experience more enjoyable for both yourself and the party receiving your help. 💯

For example, you could be interested in working with animals, which we’ll focus on in this guide. Perhaps, you could love working with children and supporting them as they grow up and mature! 👫 

⌚ How Much Time Do I Have?

It's also important to consider how much time you can dedicate to your position. Community service should not come at your academics' expense or other extracurriculars you enjoy, like a sport or an instrument. 🎻  

If a position asks for 10 hours per week as a minimum, and you only have 5 hours of availability, it might be better to find a different position. Of course, you can still do the other position, but be sure to communicate that clearly to the person in charge before conflicts occur! 💥

🪑 How Do I Get a Community Service Position?

Getting a community service position isn’t difficult, but there are different ways you can approach it. Some organizations might have an application form online for you to fill out, while others require you to go in person and ask for available positions. If you’re interested in helping out somewhere, go for it and ask about opportunities! Asking never hurts! 😉

Now, let’s move into the focus of this guide: community service positions with animals! 🐣

Why Should I Work With Animals? 🐈

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I mean, why not? They’re cute, cuddly, and… cute! In all seriousness, though, working with animals has been scientifically proven to improve your emotional, physical, and mental health. Now, what are some positions that involve animals? 🦍

🏠 1. Volunteer at Your Local Animal Shelter

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Most animal shelters accept volunteers to help walk the animals, clean cages/kennels, and take care of the animals’ basic needs, like food and hygiene. Even just playing with an energetic dog can help! ⚡

To work in this position, search up your local shelter or one nearby and see if they have more information on their website. There will often be a volunteer section of their site with an application form for you to fill out and submit or bring to them. If not, you can always visit the shelter and ask whoever’s there about volunteer opportunities. 🙋‍♂️

📜 2. Become a Foster Parent

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First, what is fostering? Fostering is when you take in an animal temporarily and provide it with care and attention. To put it simply, you’re the animal’s temporary home until either it is adopted and finds its forever home, or the shelter takes it back. 🌳

Pet fostering helps reduce overcrowding in shelters and enables the shelter to take in more animals in need. Also, fostering helps prepare the animals for adoption better because it gives them a chance to live in a home where they can express their whole personality. 😺

To become a foster parent, you can go online and use websites such as Petfinder, or go directly to a local shelter and ask them about foster opportunities. You will be required to fill out a foster application so that the shelter can verify that they’re sending the animals to a safe and secure environment. Still, it’s a relatively straightforward process. 👍

🤝 3. Participate in a Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteer Program

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Helping animals isn’t limited to your region. In fact, you can travel abroad to help rehabilitate animals like the lions in Zimbabwe! Check out organizations like GoEco to travel overseas with an organization. You’ll be working alongside passionate, like-minded people while helping animals in need. 🧠

🎨 4. Get Creative

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Working with animals doesn’t have to be limited to going to the local animal shelter! With COVID, there are countless service opportunities you can do from home. 📱

You can even come up with ways to help that suit your strengths and passions. For example, you could start a toy drive to provide animals with fresh, new toys or even reach out to your local shelter and organize a meet-up with the elderly home. The opportunities are truly endless, and all you have to do is put yourself out there and ask! 😱

🤝Connect with other students studying Community Service with Hours