Finding homes for Boston Terriers became a full-time undertaking for Julie Klam. Thankfully, she inherited the volunteering gene from her mom. PLUS: An open thread about YOUR volunteering and pets.
I am a volunteer server at Caffe Lena, the longest continuously running coffee house and performance space (since 1960) in Saratoga Springs, NY. Although there is now a small paid staff (they are relatively new) most of the daily operations are run solely by volunteers. I have been involved here for 15 years and couldn’t imagine my life without this wonderful listening room that brings music, love and peace to all who enter.
Friday is the best day of the week for me because I volunteer for City Relief in New York City. City Relief is a mobile outreach unit that provides food, clothing, and legal/ medical referrals to the unhoused. I love talking with our guests who have become my Friday Friends and Family. I learn from them and I am grateful to our guests for the privilege of getting to know and talk and share coffee and conversation.
My volunteering totally changed at the beginning of the pandemic. I was a volunteer dinner cook at an AIDS/HIV facility until the facility was closed to volunteers. I saw a post on social media about the need for Covid monitors at the Portland Japanese Garden. A year in I trained to be an official tour guide at the garden. This has been one of most rewarding experiences ever! I meet people from all over the world who have come to experience the peace and incredible beauty of our garden. We share the history of the garden and Japanese culture. Visitors are uplifted and come away with the sense of how culture and art cross all borders (and bring people together). And yes I have a dog and we are outside everyday for walks in our beautiful natural setting of the PNW!
I'm 74. I volunteer for two different organizations for two very different reasons. When I lost my best 4-legged soul mate, Betty, I began volunteering for our local dog rescue group. However, I quickly discovered that I wanted to bring ALL the dogs home to my one-bedroom condo so I removed myself from the facility that takes in the dogs and began volunteering at one of their thrift stores. It isn’t glamourous. I mainly hang clothes and straighten things out and make certain everything is priced, but I’m doing something. My second volunteer job takes place in the summer when I put time in for a community sailing school in their women’s sailing program. Again, not glamorous, but I help teach knot tying and how to rig boats and do whatever needs to be done. But it’s gratifying because I get to see the joy and excitement sailing brings to women who might not have ever attempted to sail in a program that wasn’t women focused. Both organizations fill my spirit and helps me see the good in the world and these days that isn’t nothing! A side note shout out: when my Betty passed away something that also helped me in my grieving process was having a pen and ink portrait done by a young woman artist who has the most amazing ability to capture the heart and soul of your companion. Her website is: www.juliafrazel.com and even if you don’t want a pet portrait––her web site is beautiful and the portraits she displays on her site always does my heart good! Well worth the gander if you’re feeling low.
Thank you for all you do for these little souls, Julie. I’m 55 and have volunteered for a small local animal rescue in NW Philly, and my proudest story is rescuing a pitbull from the coldest week in January 2024, right before a snowstorm. Someone had posted her pic on a neighborhood page on Facebook and so being unemployed at the time I was determined to get her. Six days and a couple near misses, I finally got her with the help of a borrowed trap and a cheeseburger. It took 6 months to find her a home - pit bulls are hard to place - but she finally found her family and is so loved. They kept the name I gave her - Lulu. I saw her recently in the neighborhood and she attacked me with kisses. Best payday ever. I’m also a childless dog mom (ahem) to 2 of my own.
Omg, this made me cry! It is such an incredible feeling to rescue. And I once rescued a pitbull that was tied out in front of a museum in the blazing sun. I had 5 dogs at the time (in my NYC apartment) and none of the no humane society or non kill shelter had space for him so I took him to my friend's house in Ct. Pit bulls break my heart the most - I cannot stand how many are in the shelters. xx
Thank you for saving him! There are so many backyard pittie breeders in my neighborhood, and so many discarded breeding mama pitties - Lulu had clearly just had puppies, even though she was a puppy of only a year old herself. I hate it so much. Rescuers are angels on earth 💕
I’m 71, a retired academic. My disabled daughter and I volunteer with our local animal shelter. We also have two dachshunds, one adopted as a puppy, the other rescued through our regional breed rescue organization, Midwest Dachshund Rescue. Although I worry about the elitism of breed-specific rescue, I think every rescue—no matter the breed or lack thereof—is all to the good.
I'm 60, and have been volunteering on an irregular business, due to my work schedule, but I try for at least twice a month. I volunteer at a local food pantry, found because my kid's elementary school required a volunteer project and the organization was on the list.
I like it because it's set up like a grocery store. Volunteers have a 'shopping list' with quantities allowed by family size, and we push the cart, help bag and make conversation. We have several refrigerated cases with 'food rescue' items nearing expiration from local grocery stores and Target. Bread and baked goods are also donated.
There is website you can search by day for open shifts. Shifts also include going through donations, stocking shelves and packing boxes for delivery to homebound clients. There is also a resale store that works in conjunction to sell items to the public and give items to the food pantry clients.
I am 67, a retired social worker, a writer and a weaver/fiber artist. They are more related than one might think. I have always volunteered, a lot of committees -- too many committees (!), but my favorite volunteer gigs now involve direct work with people. Nearly every week, I am either at the Presbyterian Home (a residence for assisted living and memory care) or at a local church outreach program that offers hot breakfasts, hot showers, laundry facilities and hair cuts. When I retired, I purposely let my social work licensure go so I could just focus on people rather than paperwork and institutional barriers. At the assisted living residence, I have organized and led sewing groups where residents made blankets for pediatric patients and an art quilt to hang in their own dining room. I provide 1:1 visits to those experiencing loneliness, and take people to special activities in their meeting hall. At the church, I talk with the unhoused or under-housed, and schedule them for time slots in our showers or using our laundry facilities. I listen to their stories, find clean clothing for them, scrub down showers, whatever is needed in the moment. We call our guests "guests" or "neighbors," and never question their asks or needs. Even the security guard acts as a nonjudgmental helper and friend. Social workers aren't known for their big salaries anyway, but what I do now to bring companionship and smiles to others is the best reward of all! (As for pets, I've had them all my life. Now I enjoy other people's, even cats and dogs that live with the residents of the assisted living home.)
Thanks for your incredible work, Julie! As I write this, I'm about to leave for my weekly volunteer shift at Animal Haven, a wonderful animal shelter in downtown NYC. I also occasionally volunteer with other rescues, and would foster all the time if I didn't have two dogs of my own. I've found that helping dogs is incredibly rewarding, more so than a lot of paid work I've done. And since being laid off in August, it's also had a grounding effect— no matter what happens, I know I need to show up every week.
Helping animals can be so rewarding. Dogs want so much to be good but often absorb the trauma inflicted upon them. Getting them past that and on to a better life is beautiful.
I have volunteered with cat shelters in the past but now most of my volunteer efforts are around financial literacy. I meet so many older people who had these huge careers but are now so happy helping others.
I'm sixty-five and volunteer usher at Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Wolf Trap in the DC area. My most fulfilling current volunteer gig, however, is invasive species removal with Friends of Dyke Marsh in Alexandria, Virginia. I love cutting invasives like English Ivy off of trees and ripping out stilt grass in the marsh to make room for native species.
I volunteer on the board for my community choir, which is fulfilling, but challenging. (Lay boards, am I right?) But my favorite volunteer job at the moment is driving a 21 passenger Ford F450 bus for our Senior Community Center. I'm not that much younger than my passengers, but I still love to drive and was able to get my Commercial Driver's License to do so.
I am turning 70 in January. While I was working full time, raising 2 daughters and finishing my graduate degree I taught Religious Education (12 years) at my Unitarian Universalist church (getting my daughters there was the initial motivational). I also had a girl scout troop from Daisy to Cadet (again, getting the girls to engage). After I empty-nested I did scholarship reviews and certification exam development and some ESL work with the county. Now that I am fully retired I am pretty involved in my Red Cross chapter (blood donor ambassador and disaster action team). My mother schlepped us all around the world (following my dad's work). She also volunteered at orphanages and libraries for the blind and the Kennedy Center (until she decided at 88 that she was done learning new applications to type up playbills. It was just something we did and do. My girls are finding their volunteer passions (food banks, mentoring, etc.).
What i have enjoyed the most is connecting with people i would not have normally met. Lots of good people in need. And lots of good people helping out.
My husband and I at 79 were concerned we would considered too old to adopt. Searching for a year or so for a 4-yr-old female 40 lbs hairy dog, I finally saw her on The Golden Project fb site.
We were seriously vetted and have adopted her. She’s perfect!
We were so impressed with that rescue and its founder (she’s amazing) that we now volunteer as transporters for rescued or surrendered dogs, taking them from fosters to vets or to other fosters. Whatever’s needed within a 100 mile range.
It can get crazy, but every dog matters and everyone is so kind.
We have a lot of seniors adopting. They are the best homes! And truly everyone needs to have a plan for their pets if something happens to them. Thank you for what you do! It can be crazy but volunteers like you make it possible! ❤️
Love volunteering since retiring in 2021. I volunteer as Music Director for an internet radio station called Hound Radio and really enjoy it! I've always loved radio, had a career as a lawyer, and now can do something completely different. We are all volunteers at the station and no one makes a dime, which is why we are able to have no advertising and play great music 24/7. We play adult contemporary as well as oldies - if you want to give it a listen, download the free app for Hound Radio powered by Loo Katz. I also do pet adoption interviews for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. :-)
Julie, thank you for the amazing work that you do for these beautiful little dogs. I adopted a Boston after he needed to be rehomed and he brought much joy to us for many years. The breed was really popular when I was a kid in the ‘60s and then seemed to go through a resurgence in popularity in the ‘90s with a lot of fall out which is ongoing. Keep up the great work which is so needed and appreciated. And I’m looking forward to getting acquainted with your writing.
Oh thank you! They were also really popular in the 30s. When I rescued my first Boston in 1992 people all told me their grandparents had Bostons. I really love them and it's wonderful to be able to find them all homes!
Great point! My little Max was born in 1999. I worked as a veterinary surgical nurse and he started out as one of my patients with a leg fracture. He belonged to someone who really loved him, but longer term couldn’t keep him. I’ve found, in general, that people seem unprepared for the amount of energy these little furbabies have and the amount of medical problems that have been bred in to them. You made my day, learning about the rescue efforts on the East Coast:)
I am a volunteer server at Caffe Lena, the longest continuously running coffee house and performance space (since 1960) in Saratoga Springs, NY. Although there is now a small paid staff (they are relatively new) most of the daily operations are run solely by volunteers. I have been involved here for 15 years and couldn’t imagine my life without this wonderful listening room that brings music, love and peace to all who enter.
I had my first wedding in Saratoga. I love it there! My mom is in Granville, not far!
I look forward to your visit. I just met you in Albany
Ah! Yes.
I went to college in Saratoga Springs in the early 70s and it was a favorite place back then. I always check it out on my visits to this lovely town.
Bookmarking this for my next trip up there!
How nice. I didn't know that about that place.
Come check it out if you find yourself in this area. We livestream all of our shows, so check the schedule at caffelena.org
I will! I live in Kingston and occasionally go to Saratoga.
Friday is the best day of the week for me because I volunteer for City Relief in New York City. City Relief is a mobile outreach unit that provides food, clothing, and legal/ medical referrals to the unhoused. I love talking with our guests who have become my Friday Friends and Family. I learn from them and I am grateful to our guests for the privilege of getting to know and talk and share coffee and conversation.
Sweet.
My volunteering totally changed at the beginning of the pandemic. I was a volunteer dinner cook at an AIDS/HIV facility until the facility was closed to volunteers. I saw a post on social media about the need for Covid monitors at the Portland Japanese Garden. A year in I trained to be an official tour guide at the garden. This has been one of most rewarding experiences ever! I meet people from all over the world who have come to experience the peace and incredible beauty of our garden. We share the history of the garden and Japanese culture. Visitors are uplifted and come away with the sense of how culture and art cross all borders (and bring people together). And yes I have a dog and we are outside everyday for walks in our beautiful natural setting of the PNW!
Wow! I love this. Thanks for sharing, Emily.
I'm 74. I volunteer for two different organizations for two very different reasons. When I lost my best 4-legged soul mate, Betty, I began volunteering for our local dog rescue group. However, I quickly discovered that I wanted to bring ALL the dogs home to my one-bedroom condo so I removed myself from the facility that takes in the dogs and began volunteering at one of their thrift stores. It isn’t glamourous. I mainly hang clothes and straighten things out and make certain everything is priced, but I’m doing something. My second volunteer job takes place in the summer when I put time in for a community sailing school in their women’s sailing program. Again, not glamorous, but I help teach knot tying and how to rig boats and do whatever needs to be done. But it’s gratifying because I get to see the joy and excitement sailing brings to women who might not have ever attempted to sail in a program that wasn’t women focused. Both organizations fill my spirit and helps me see the good in the world and these days that isn’t nothing! A side note shout out: when my Betty passed away something that also helped me in my grieving process was having a pen and ink portrait done by a young woman artist who has the most amazing ability to capture the heart and soul of your companion. Her website is: www.juliafrazel.com and even if you don’t want a pet portrait––her web site is beautiful and the portraits she displays on her site always does my heart good! Well worth the gander if you’re feeling low.
Thank you for all you do for these little souls, Julie. I’m 55 and have volunteered for a small local animal rescue in NW Philly, and my proudest story is rescuing a pitbull from the coldest week in January 2024, right before a snowstorm. Someone had posted her pic on a neighborhood page on Facebook and so being unemployed at the time I was determined to get her. Six days and a couple near misses, I finally got her with the help of a borrowed trap and a cheeseburger. It took 6 months to find her a home - pit bulls are hard to place - but she finally found her family and is so loved. They kept the name I gave her - Lulu. I saw her recently in the neighborhood and she attacked me with kisses. Best payday ever. I’m also a childless dog mom (ahem) to 2 of my own.
Omg, this made me cry! It is such an incredible feeling to rescue. And I once rescued a pitbull that was tied out in front of a museum in the blazing sun. I had 5 dogs at the time (in my NYC apartment) and none of the no humane society or non kill shelter had space for him so I took him to my friend's house in Ct. Pit bulls break my heart the most - I cannot stand how many are in the shelters. xx
Thank you for saving him! There are so many backyard pittie breeders in my neighborhood, and so many discarded breeding mama pitties - Lulu had clearly just had puppies, even though she was a puppy of only a year old herself. I hate it so much. Rescuers are angels on earth 💕
💖💖💖
Wonderful. <3
I’m 71, a retired academic. My disabled daughter and I volunteer with our local animal shelter. We also have two dachshunds, one adopted as a puppy, the other rescued through our regional breed rescue organization, Midwest Dachshund Rescue. Although I worry about the elitism of breed-specific rescue, I think every rescue—no matter the breed or lack thereof—is all to the good.
Celia, agreed. My daughter discovered our tripod husky this way. I’ve rescued mutts all my life but little Luna needed us and we needed her too!
I'm 60, and have been volunteering on an irregular business, due to my work schedule, but I try for at least twice a month. I volunteer at a local food pantry, found because my kid's elementary school required a volunteer project and the organization was on the list.
I like it because it's set up like a grocery store. Volunteers have a 'shopping list' with quantities allowed by family size, and we push the cart, help bag and make conversation. We have several refrigerated cases with 'food rescue' items nearing expiration from local grocery stores and Target. Bread and baked goods are also donated.
There is website you can search by day for open shifts. Shifts also include going through donations, stocking shelves and packing boxes for delivery to homebound clients. There is also a resale store that works in conjunction to sell items to the public and give items to the food pantry clients.
Awesome.
I am 67, a retired social worker, a writer and a weaver/fiber artist. They are more related than one might think. I have always volunteered, a lot of committees -- too many committees (!), but my favorite volunteer gigs now involve direct work with people. Nearly every week, I am either at the Presbyterian Home (a residence for assisted living and memory care) or at a local church outreach program that offers hot breakfasts, hot showers, laundry facilities and hair cuts. When I retired, I purposely let my social work licensure go so I could just focus on people rather than paperwork and institutional barriers. At the assisted living residence, I have organized and led sewing groups where residents made blankets for pediatric patients and an art quilt to hang in their own dining room. I provide 1:1 visits to those experiencing loneliness, and take people to special activities in their meeting hall. At the church, I talk with the unhoused or under-housed, and schedule them for time slots in our showers or using our laundry facilities. I listen to their stories, find clean clothing for them, scrub down showers, whatever is needed in the moment. We call our guests "guests" or "neighbors," and never question their asks or needs. Even the security guard acts as a nonjudgmental helper and friend. Social workers aren't known for their big salaries anyway, but what I do now to bring companionship and smiles to others is the best reward of all! (As for pets, I've had them all my life. Now I enjoy other people's, even cats and dogs that live with the residents of the assisted living home.)
Wow! That’s amazing!! Wonderful you!!
Thanks for your incredible work, Julie! As I write this, I'm about to leave for my weekly volunteer shift at Animal Haven, a wonderful animal shelter in downtown NYC. I also occasionally volunteer with other rescues, and would foster all the time if I didn't have two dogs of my own. I've found that helping dogs is incredibly rewarding, more so than a lot of paid work I've done. And since being laid off in August, it's also had a grounding effect— no matter what happens, I know I need to show up every week.
OMG, I love Animal Haven! And thank you for what you do!
Helping animals can be so rewarding. Dogs want so much to be good but often absorb the trauma inflicted upon them. Getting them past that and on to a better life is beautiful.
I have volunteered with cat shelters in the past but now most of my volunteer efforts are around financial literacy. I meet so many older people who had these huge careers but are now so happy helping others.
Financial literacy is so needed. (I know I could use some.) Thanks for sharing.
So well said Deidra.
I'm sixty-five and volunteer usher at Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Wolf Trap in the DC area. My most fulfilling current volunteer gig, however, is invasive species removal with Friends of Dyke Marsh in Alexandria, Virginia. I love cutting invasives like English Ivy off of trees and ripping out stilt grass in the marsh to make room for native species.
I volunteer on the board for my community choir, which is fulfilling, but challenging. (Lay boards, am I right?) But my favorite volunteer job at the moment is driving a 21 passenger Ford F450 bus for our Senior Community Center. I'm not that much younger than my passengers, but I still love to drive and was able to get my Commercial Driver's License to do so.
That’s amazing! My grandmother drove a bus of veterans during World War Two!
I am turning 70 in January. While I was working full time, raising 2 daughters and finishing my graduate degree I taught Religious Education (12 years) at my Unitarian Universalist church (getting my daughters there was the initial motivational). I also had a girl scout troop from Daisy to Cadet (again, getting the girls to engage). After I empty-nested I did scholarship reviews and certification exam development and some ESL work with the county. Now that I am fully retired I am pretty involved in my Red Cross chapter (blood donor ambassador and disaster action team). My mother schlepped us all around the world (following my dad's work). She also volunteered at orphanages and libraries for the blind and the Kennedy Center (until she decided at 88 that she was done learning new applications to type up playbills. It was just something we did and do. My girls are finding their volunteer passions (food banks, mentoring, etc.).
What i have enjoyed the most is connecting with people i would not have normally met. Lots of good people in need. And lots of good people helping out.
My husband and I at 79 were concerned we would considered too old to adopt. Searching for a year or so for a 4-yr-old female 40 lbs hairy dog, I finally saw her on The Golden Project fb site.
We were seriously vetted and have adopted her. She’s perfect!
We were so impressed with that rescue and its founder (she’s amazing) that we now volunteer as transporters for rescued or surrendered dogs, taking them from fosters to vets or to other fosters. Whatever’s needed within a 100 mile range.
It can get crazy, but every dog matters and everyone is so kind.
We have a lot of seniors adopting. They are the best homes! And truly everyone needs to have a plan for their pets if something happens to them. Thank you for what you do! It can be crazy but volunteers like you make it possible! ❤️
Love volunteering since retiring in 2021. I volunteer as Music Director for an internet radio station called Hound Radio and really enjoy it! I've always loved radio, had a career as a lawyer, and now can do something completely different. We are all volunteers at the station and no one makes a dime, which is why we are able to have no advertising and play great music 24/7. We play adult contemporary as well as oldies - if you want to give it a listen, download the free app for Hound Radio powered by Loo Katz. I also do pet adoption interviews for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. :-)
Julie, thank you for the amazing work that you do for these beautiful little dogs. I adopted a Boston after he needed to be rehomed and he brought much joy to us for many years. The breed was really popular when I was a kid in the ‘60s and then seemed to go through a resurgence in popularity in the ‘90s with a lot of fall out which is ongoing. Keep up the great work which is so needed and appreciated. And I’m looking forward to getting acquainted with your writing.
Oh thank you! They were also really popular in the 30s. When I rescued my first Boston in 1992 people all told me their grandparents had Bostons. I really love them and it's wonderful to be able to find them all homes!
Great point! My little Max was born in 1999. I worked as a veterinary surgical nurse and he started out as one of my patients with a leg fracture. He belonged to someone who really loved him, but longer term couldn’t keep him. I’ve found, in general, that people seem unprepared for the amount of energy these little furbabies have and the amount of medical problems that have been bred in to them. You made my day, learning about the rescue efforts on the East Coast:)
Yay! Thank you!!!