There's always a volunteer job that nobody really wants to do. It's either too much trouble or boring. Unfortunately, it's THAT particular job that ends up being of key importance. In cat rescue, that job is that of "The Driver".
The driver is a rather unglamorous volunteer job. He or she is the person that fills up their gas tank in their car, loads up on Tim Horton's coffee and picks up cats, delivers them to the vets, foster homes, and to adopters.
I was inspired to write about this today, because I did so much driving with cats yesterday. I was in the car for 4 hours and had an assortment of different cats in the car at different times. When I finally drove into my garage, I pulled out 4 empty Tim Horton's coffee cups, an empty box of Tim Bits, crumbled up napkins with cat barf and spilled coffee in them, empty cat carriers, an empty tank of gas, and a very weary stiff driver.
If people only knew how incredibly important "The Driver" is in cat rescue! You can go to any cat rescue website and you'll see the rescue begging for drivers. For example: There are many volunteers that don't have a car or don't drive but still really want to help. So we place cats with these lovely people and if the cat becomes ill, we need a driver to bring the cat to the vets. VERY important job, right? Right! VERY unglamorous job, right? Hell yes!
David can always tell when I've spent a day on the road. There's always a splotch of coffee down the front of my sweater, and I don't feel like cooking dinner. I realize I'm not doing much to inspire people for The Driver job in this post. You have to really want to step up and help in order to be The Driver. You have to be the person that says, "OK, I can't foster right now in my life, but dammit...I have a car....THIS I CAN DO!"
Make a cat rescue's day. Call them. Tell them you want to be a driver. Then fill up your gas tank, map out all the coffee stops, places to stop and pee, put an apple in your glove box, along with a few CD's and few napkins in case a cat barfs. Then GO!
Look at yourself in the rearview mirror and realize that you did something unglamorous, unselfish and VERY wonderful today.
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3 comments:
Someone once asked me if any job in rescue was truly glamorous, after a discussion about the hardest positions to get volunteers for.
I thought about what others think when they walk up and see me covered in fur with cat scoop in hand, bent over an overfilled litter box.
Then I remembered that no matter how "unglamorous" the job is to us people, the cats that we help think the world of us. To me, that's glamorous enough.
Amen to that, RhZ!!!!
Four cheers for the drivers and all those others only 'unglamorous' in the eyes of those who don't realize how amazing these wonderful people are :)!
Here's to all of you!!!
:: slurping a toast ::
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