Name: Tess Chamberlin
From: Naples, FL
Votes: 0
Due to my Dad’s work, my family has been traveling to Bigfork, Montana
every summer since 2009. During the time we spend there, I, along
with the neighborhood kids/young adults, all host a 4th of July bake
sale during the parade. Everything we bake is homemade, and all the
proceeds go to the Flathead County Animal Shelter. It started out as
a small project four years ago, but has grown into an annual bake
sale that raises upwards of $500 every summer. While that doesn’t
seem like a lot of money, but for the 6 of us who started out with
one small table and some cookies and cupcakes, it’s a huge
improvement. A few weeks before the bake sale, we all send around a
spreadsheet to organize who is baking and doing what. At first, I
would only bake 2 dozen cookies and brownies, but because it has
grown so much, i’m now making 5 dozen cookies. At the end of the bake
sale, we count the money and then it’s given to one of the parents
who then write a check. We then go to the animal shelter and give
them the check as a group. One year, we were able to get a tour of
the shelter to see all the things they do behind the scenes. Seeing
all the animals in the shelter made me sad because they didn’t have
a home. The money mainly goes towards the animal’s food, bedding, and
any other necessity the shelter needs to keep the animals safe, happy
and healthy. Being able to partake in this makes me feel really happy
because I know I’m doing something for those who can’t exactly do
it themselves. When the neighborhood took a vote to see where we
would donate the money, I volunteered the animal shelter to receive
it.
Working with animals is my career goal in life, and being able to donate
money every year based off our volunteer work is a really great
thing. Some wouldn’t classify this as volunteer work because the
animal shelter isn’t non-profit. However, I believe that any work
that anyone does that benefits another without personal gain is
volunteering.
