Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Blog the Change


Blog the Change 
I've been seeing Blog the Change posts around for the past few years and I kept meaning to participate, but it always seems to slip my mind when I'm behind my computer in a mental and physical place I can blog.

Currently I'm in a mental one, but not in a physical one (shhh, yes I am at work, and yes, I should be working, but I so did not want to miss this yet again)

There are so many changes I would love to see made, but most of them are in the faerie godmother stage.. you know, you need to have a magic wand to fix.

But one thing I wish to convey to people is that you do not have to make great big sweeping changes to make a difference.  Every day small acts add up.

Nothing sums this up more spectacularly than a quote I heard on the day of William and Catherine's spectacular royal wedding.  One of the news casters said the full cost of the royal wedding, then said "that works out to about one Pound per person" (the Pound being the currency of the United Kingdom).  One tiny little "Pound".. about a $1.50 US.

If they could do that, imagine what a dollar could do for the homeless animals.

So many of us would like to make giant sweeping grand donations to the shelters (or any of our favorite causes) but we can not afford to.  I know it seems like if you can't do big, there really is no point in doing it.  But it really is the small things done over and over by people who care that make a really big difference.

The change you throw in a collection bin adds up.  The towels you were going to throw away will give comfort and warmth   The extra yarn you had from a project can make a small bed to go in a carrier when a pet is adopted.  A bunch of lettuce will feed many bunnies and small animals. There are things you can donate and if your shelter is so inclined there are things you can craft to donate.  The shelter I foster for has several very crafty women, they make cat beds for sale, jewelry with cats and dogs on it, and most recently some beautiful hand made cards.  You have a new outlet for your craft, and they have a new source of revenue.  See if they have a program for kids, many have birthday parties for your child at the shelter or school break 'camps' where kids get to 'help' the animals while on vacation.

Heck, ten minutes you spend going into a shelter or stopping by an adoption cage in a satellite facility to help socialize a pet will make the pet more adoptable. (yes, I am advocating going in and petting cats or walking dogs as a way to help)  Heck, I've seen people show interest in an animal and it generates more interest, and eventually the right person in the right circumstance sees it and becomes interested.

Share the word of the wonderful pets up for adoption at shelters.

Support your local open admission (aka "kill") shelter.  With out help they are going to continue to be a place where pets go to die, not where they are rescued from.

Give up the fantasy of what you wish you could do and just start by doing something.

21 comments:

  1. Great post. I forgot it about posting about this with everything else going on. But, I couldn't agree more - if EVERYONE did just one little thing....it adds up to one BIG thing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are right--little things add up. A couple of weeks ago, I donated one case of canned cat food, two bags of cat food, a bag of cat toys, and six cat beds. I thought it wasn't much, but what if everyone donated a little?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rene!! That's not 'not much" that was awesome! I hope the shelter thanked you properly!

      Delete
  3. you are invited to follow my blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why thank you Steve, and you are invited to follow mine.

      Delete
    2. FYI, for other people seeing this, Steve runs a very Christian website. This feels very spammy to me, but I am going to leave it up. Steve, if you see this, and you intend to visit my site and read my posts, that is wonderful, but if you stopped by simply to post to have me come look... well lets just say I hope that is not the case.

      May God bless you in your endeavors.

      Delete
  4. Really fantastic post for Blog the change. You're so right - every little thing counts. It takes a lot of little things to create small and then big change in the world.

    Speaking of change, the resale shop run by one of the shelters near me collects spare change at the counter, and has sponsored the medical needs of several animals that way. All of that spare change really does add up!

    I love all of the ideas you've discussed here. Thank you so much for sharing this today and for joining in Blog the Change!

    A.J.
    Team BtC4A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi A.J. thank you for stopping by, and thank you for your kind comments. How wonderful that the collection of change was able to fund so much!

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So interesting that now all of a sudden I am getting visitors from Christian bloggers. Not that I mind, as a Christian myself it is nice to see them stop by. However the rant concerning what someone else spends on themselves is NOT welcome. Mrs. Obama is welcome to spend her money on what ever she deems appropriate, just as you are. her vacations are not government funded.

      The reason government doesn't fund animal welfare is that the bulk of society does not wish it. Heck, getting funding for child welfare is a fight. It is just sad that to help those less fortunate is considered socialism and is 'bad!'.

      and on the off chance you actually stop back by, I would like to comment that I am sorry you do not allow comments on your own blog because I would very much like to share with you a bit of science. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html

      I pray God blesses you in your endeavors.

      Delete
  6. It really burns me when humans say they hate going to "kill" shelters because it is so depressing - hello! How do you think the animals in there feel? And when you help out there, you can LITERALLY be saving a life! More humans need to suck it up and pitch in.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I didn't know about this but then I've been a bit preoccupied! Great post Connie. Well said x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great post and great ideas. It really doesn't take a lot to help out!

    ReplyDelete
  9. As the saying goes, it is better to light a candle then to curse the darkness. Our Lady agrees that small changes can make all the difference! She thinks it was worth blogging at work about!

    ReplyDelete
  10. So true! Every little thing adds up - thank you for sharing ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well written! A little at a time goes a long way!

    ReplyDelete
  12. that is an important message. I often give $5 here and $10 there and I feel bad that I can't give more. What I forget is, that you are right...it DOES add up! If everyone did that....imagine!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Here, here! It really doesn't take much at all to make a difference. Thanks for posting,
    PoochieProject.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love your analogy of the "pound" - who could argue with that?! You make a wonderful point here, and I hope every reader takes from it the inspiration to go and do just one small thing...

    Thank you for blogging the change for animals!
    Kim Thomas
    Team BtC4A

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for participating in Blog the Change Day! You're right - little things do make a difference, in fact that's the philosophy that BTC4animals was founded on. Whatever you can do - whether it's write a blog post, share a post, sign a petition, donate your Facebook status, or tweet for a cause - makes a difference! Thank you for making people aware of a few of the little things they can do to Be the Change for Animals!

    Vicki Cook
    Team BTC4A

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...