May 1, 2007

Before coming to Elon, the majority of my service consisted of volunteering at retirement homes and my sister and I specialized in doing arts and crafts activities that we would plan ahead of time and lead for the residents. I always found it to be a rewarding experience as well as obviously a difficult one emotionally at times. When I started working at Kopper Top, I had never done anything like it before, although I had definitely considered similar programs in the past, I had always doubted my abilities with being able to assist the clients because I had no training or knowledge of how to care for them and the responsibility overwhelmed me immensely. Looking back, taking the leap to try Kopper Top could not have had better outcomes. I love the animals, I adore the stuff, and the kids are the reason I go basically. It’s an incredibly engaging experience and you can see the effects your work has giving it a very gratifying sensation. Lucky for me, on May 1 I was able to bring together my two favorite forms of service when we visited a retirement home nearby. We brought with us four cats, four dogs, and two rabbits. The residents were enjoying themselves greatly and so were the animals, with all that love and attention they got for the afternoon. It was really amazing to see these individuals who wouldn’t even blink in the direction of another person, but they’d fall in love with a cat or a dog, or even a rabbit. What I also found amazing was there was always a person in the group who didn’t really want to be there and basically ignored the animals and the people and stayed in their own world, however the animals would have none of this. It was as if they knew how dissatisfied they were and believed it there job to fix everything and make it all better. We’ve all experienced it before, you’re in a bad mood and your dog or cat starts nudging you and begging for love, and at first you’re thinking, Just leave me alone I can’t bother wish this right now, etc. and then they do something precious and warming that just melts the anger straight away. Well all the bad or sad feelings these residents felt definitely melted away when these guests arrived, even for just an hour to see their faces light up was incredible. This was my first time going to a home with Kopper Top and I next fall I plan on making those trips regularly.