the spirit of giving

is for all of the year. it is not just for this one christmas day each year. the presents piled under the tree...mean what? how much money can say, i love you and want you to be happy? i don't know, can money really say that better than we can?

mo has come here every weekend since almost the very beginning...four years of both of her days off to spend five hours each day saying to the animals at saints, i love you and want you to be happy. kathy k is another...saints first volunteer to take us under her wing and help us stay covered. the volunteers that have come since that time and stayed are the same...they don't hand me a list of what they have done so i can properly be grateful, there is no invoice of what their time and hard work was worth, they don't compare how hard they work to someone else, they just roll up their sleeves and pitch in where ever they can.

in so many shelters, there is an invisible line between the staff and volunteers. volunteers feel de-valued, on the outside looking in...they feel a small part of something but they are not really sure. still, they come week after week for the animals.

saints is unique in the sense that while we have paid staff to cover 100 hours of work each week, the other 200 hours needed to provide 24/7 coverage is covered by volunteers. and in being a volunteer myself, i really value what this means.

it means that the spirit of giving is not unique to this day or this season...it happens each and every day...in small ways, in big ways, it accumulates into something huge that never ever could happen without the act of freely giving.

a very special merry christmas to all of those who volunteer, here or elsewhere thru out the year... your acts of unconditional giving, make goodness and light in this world appear.