Community Service for Animal House Shelter

Finding a service opportunity this semester was difficult due to a lack of events and
willingness of organizations to utilize new volunteers because of Covid-19. Therefore, although I
would have liked to volunteer for an organization or event that more closely correlated with my
profession, I found the opportunity to volunteer for the Howl-O-Ween party benefitting Animal
House Shelter1 (AHS). The website for AHS can be found by following this link:
https://www.animalhouseshelter.com/. It is a large no-kill facility outside of the Chicago
metropolitan area that provides care and shelter to many dogs and cats who have complex
medical problems, and is the shelter from which we adopted one of our dogs.
The Howl-O-Ween party took place on October 24, 2020 at the shelter in Huntley,
Illinois. The event flyer and my volunteer registration can be viewed in Figures 1 and 2. It was a
Halloween party that included puppy yoga, Halloween crafts, and a costume contest. The
purpose of this event was to raise funds for the shelter. My role was to help set up the registration
table, the prize table, the craft table, the yoga area, and to walk adoptable dogs around the party
to meet people. Even though it was an hour and a half drive, it was great to interact with people
whom I otherwise would not and to bring excitement to shelter animals by walking them outside
for socialization. Two of the dogs I walked were adopted by the end of the day! Overall, I
enjoyed my day and plan to volunteer for AHS again because my time felt worthwhile for the
shelter animals.
 Figures

Figure 1. Event flyer for Halloween party benefitting Animal House Shelter.
Figure 2. Screen capture of my volunteer registration through SignUpGenius.
 References
1. Animal House Shelter Web site. https://www.animalhouseshelter.com/. Accessed
October 25, 2020.