Worst community service experience....?

Question

I volunteered at the local Humane society and the lady treated me like c**p. I had to squeegee the kennels...you know like heavy work. I'm allergic to dust and she made me clear out the old donation shed. I started swelling up and asked her why she was being so mean, It turns out she though it was there for like...criminal reasons.

Answer 1

The best thing when doing community service is to be clear with the volunteer organization why you are there, and what your goals are.  Did you just "show up" at the Humane Society and get mixed in with a whole bunch of other "community service" people who may have been there by court order?  Make yourself heard.

In addition, be responsible for your own health issues.  If you are prone to allergies, such as dust (or maybe pet dander) maybe working around pets isn't the best idea.  At least consider bringing a dust mask!  How about a different volunteer activity, such as working outdoors on a community cleanup project, or inside at a hospital information booth.

Best of luck.  There are a lot of rewarding volunteer activities out there.  Remember, it's a thankless job, which may be why the woman you encountered was such a sourpuss to begin with!

Answer 2

i volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician(EMT).  There was rampant sexual harassment and other illegal and immoral activity among the members including drunk driving and discrimination.  People were on a power trip.  Their neglegance almost killed me-anotehr member had Mono-they let her continue to work for a few months-I got sick from just being near her and needed emergency treatment 2x-have never fully recovered-she could have exposed patients too.

Answer 3

Oh god I hate that!

I was helping out at a retirement home for school work experience and the lady I was with treated me like I was subhuman. I remember talking to one of the old ladies and she asked why I was here. I replied saying I was doing community service and she got shocked and uncomfortable. She thought I was a criminal. I was then put into the dementure ward and couldn't talk or communicate to any of the old people as hard as I tried because they were all like vegetables. I had no other class mates in my section and the nurse didn't care about me. I then got glares from a catholic preistess there(it was a catholic retirement home) because I'm not catholic. My school is protestant so she must of known I was part of that school's work experience group at the retirement home. So it was all just a waste of time for me. I had to go there for three days, I couldn't wait till I got out of there. It was an eye opener though.

Answer 4

I hope all of you who had these experiences reported them to the board of directors at the organization you were helping. Otherwise, these problems will continue for future volunteers.

Answer 5

I've also had problems with the humane society.

Unfortunately, it wasn't someone being rude to me personally, but to the animals.

The main lady refused to adopt out certain animals because of her personal preferences.  That meant that a lot of beagles, Pomerania's, mutts, or hunting breed all got shipped to the pound like, 1 week after they became of age.  However, she had cats and other breeds of dogs that had been there for about 2-3 years.  When I asked her about why she treated them that way, she said that if she doesn't like them, no one will, so there's no use spending donation money feeding them.

I was so shocked and just angered by her reaction.  I wrote a letter to the Humane Societies main office, but I've never heard anything back from them, and the lady is still there as far as I know.