Freedom

Today we celebrate and honor all our veterans. Whether they are currently serving, have already served, or have given their life in service, we honor them and give thanks for our freedom.

While we most often associate freedom with politics, I also want to acknowledge the freedom of choice we have everyday; the freedom to live our life in love, in integrity, in authenticity. What a wonderful way to honor the sacrifice our veterans have made for us.

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Do you have a family member or friend who has served?

Becoming an Animal Shelter Volunteer

I needed something in my life but did not know what it was. Fortunately, something came along and has filled my time and changed my life. I have spent so many years working hard, trying to maintain my lifestyle, and raising a child. My child was 16 and did not need me as much. He was always hanging out with his friends leaving me wondering what to do with myself. It was time for me to get a life.

My son had to do community service early last year and we considered his options. Working for the Orange County Rescue was complicated. In addition to a 3 hour training session, you had to wait for an email for your specific volunteer inquiry and if you were selected, wait for the date and time you were scheduled for. There were also beach clean ups and soup kitchens. He did some service for our church and then he decided to complete his hours at the local animal shelter. After a two hour training session we were able to set our own hours and go as often as we wanted. He did not have the courage to go it alone so I went with him. When his hours were completed, he said he had better things to do with his time (like hanging out with friends). Not me. I love going there. It has been a year and a half and it feels like the best part of each week.

What do I do there? Walk dogs, bathe dogs, feed dogs, give them toys, give them treats, clean their kennels, do laundry, do the dishes and spend time with the dogs. Interacting with these sweet dogs is incredibly fulfilling. There are dogs that recognize me and I pick them first for their walk. I miss them when they go to their forever homes. I love reading the adoption board each week to see who went home. It almost always moves me to tears when a long time friend has gone home.

I see so many kinds of dogs. The disabled ones almost always go home quickly. Deaf, three legs or blind, people fall in love quickly with the special needs dogs. One sweet pit bull had breast cancer. We all spent time with her the day she was adopted. A volunteer took her home along with another pit bill friend. Another volunteer took home a chubby, sad 12 year old Chihuahua who was relinquished by her owner. The abandoned dog cried constantly and this volunteer spent time with her every day and finally took her home.

There is the other great part of this volunteer gig, my new friends. They are people like me who love dogs as much as me. We talk about our favorites and who has gone home and chat while we walk our 4 legged friends.

There are also opportunities to foster puppies. My son really liked this part. I went to foster class and took home a couple of shepherd mix pups for a few weeks. They are healthier in a home environment and they do not adopt out until 8 weeks old. My dogs were not so happy. It was very hard for me to let them go at the end but they were both adopted immediately and I got to visit with one of them before Christmas. His owner is amazing, the perfect place for him.

I am so glad I found this amazing place. The only time I get upset is when I see innocent dogs relinquished by their owners for no good reason or found as strays. Where did your owners go, why didn’t they find you? I have fallen in love with pit bulls and Chihuahuas. There are lots of other dogs as well, but there are lots of these. I have been there long enough to be able to walk more difficult dogs. I usually walk these because the younger volunteers can only walk the easy dogs and the more difficult ones don’t get out as much. And they are sometimes there for a long time, so you get to know them.

The shelter I volunteer for only puts down dogs that are really aggressive or really ill. They bring in dogs from other shelters that are on their last day because they have room. Why aren’t all shelters like this? We have more volunteers and more donations and are partially city funded. But other cities should be ashamed of themselves for not caring enough. It makes me very angry. I would never bring a stray dog to the county shelter, it would probably die.

I am looking forward to seeing my friends in just a few days – the volunteers and the dogs. I wonder who has gone home. I kind of hope Gina has gone home but I will really miss her.

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How do you enjoy spending your free time?

A Different Kind of Bus Ride

So you have a few free hours, you’d like to volunteer but you don’t know how. If you live in the Los Angeles area, you’re in luck.

When you board the Do Good Bus, you won’t always know where you’re going, all you’ll know is that for the next few hours you and your fellow bus mates will be volunteering at a local charity. Rebecca Pontius, along with two of her friends, Hannah Halliwell and Stephen Snedden, who first met while volunteering at Friends of El Faro, combine a fun, easily accessible way for people to volunteer. Training can be either en route or sometimes for more in-depth volunteering, the organization may do some additional training. Either way, by the time you step off the bus, you are ready to volunteer and do something good – and it’s all been arranged for you.

Although surprise is fun, the following is an idea of what you can expect for each trip. The following categories can be used as an overall guide to what might be in expected. Note that the emphasis is on might since the trips regularly change.

GOOD PEOPLE
This trip category is used for trips centered around helping people and will usually include large amounts of personal interaction with people you may have just met.

GOOD BOY/ GOOD GIRL
Like, GOOD PEOPLE, this trip is centered around interaction with people, but the small kind...the child. It is not necessary to have had prior experience working with children, but a genuine interest and sometimes a California Live Scan will be required.

GOOD EARTH
This category is for trips focused on our environment.

GOOD DOG
Animals, everyone.

GOOD CLEAN
These trips might be more on the physical side of volunteerism such as cleaning, building, or maybe lending a gloved hand.

GOOD HANDS
Like most of our trips this category hints at physical participation volunteering, but not necessarily getting dirty while doing so.

Here are some of their most recent projects:

Burrito Project –LA

This is brilliant in its simplicity. Get few people together, roll up some burritos, hop on a bike (ok, so it’s not always a bus, in this case it was the Do Good Bikes) and distribute said burritos to homeless people.

Burritos are easily assembled.

This project started in Los Angeles with 2 riders and 90 burritos. Currently there are 20 riders who distribute between 300 and 400 burritos weekly!

Unofficial chapters are forming all over the country, if you are interested in starting a Burrito Project in your area, contact the Do Good Bus and find out how easy it is to get started.

Hug it Forward

Hug It Forward is a San Diego-based non-profit that blends intangible change with tangible change globally with one goal: uniting people as one. They do this by building schools out of wasted trash bottles called "bottle schools". For each hug registered online, 25 cents goes toward building these schools. And you get a free hug out of it!

What an excellent use of wasted plastic bottles. This video shows how "bottle schools" are made.

100% of donations made to Hug It Forward are spent on the ground in the communities where bottle schools are built – no money is taken for overhead or salaries.

The Do Good Bus gave hugs at the Silver Lake Farmer's market and they’re still tracking how much money they helped raise!

So if you live in the Los Angeles area and you find your self with a few free hours, The Do Good Bus hosts a public ride every other month in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Activities range from working with kids to building new homes to creating guerrilla gardens. Every ride includes breakfast, dinner or lunch and lasts between 4 and 6 hours depending on location.