My first experience volunteering for Cheshire Lights of Hope
By: Mike Lewis
When I first walked into Paws on October 25th, 2016, I walked into the wrong door. I went into the actual pet resort, a door we have walked in with my terrorized dog a few times, and waited for five minutes before my Mom texted me saying she saw a sign driving out showing the volunteer entrance. It wasn’t the best start to my first experience volunteering with Lights of Hope, but everything went up from there.
For two hours, I helped set up kits in an assembly line method. My job was as a “runner”, meaning I’d jog between two ends of the table, shuttling luminary kits back and forth. It seems as it would be a tedious task for that long of a time, but honestly it flew by. I got about 5,000 steps (according to my Fitbit), and had a lot of fun helping speed the process up. All of the coordinators were incredibly nice, and taught me the ropes instantly.
As the night ended, I felt really good about myself. I knew I had done something great for the community, and had so much fun doing it. To be dead honest, the only reason I volunteered at first was to get community service hours. However, after that first night, I knew that my future times helping out wouldn’t be just for volunteer hours, but for having fun and helping out the community. The hours were just a byproduct.
That first night volunteering for Lights of Hope was awesome. I was very nervous going in, feeling like I’d be out of place, having never participated before. However, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh helped me get accustomed quickly, and within 15 minutes I felt like a pro. For anyone nervous to take that step to join and help, just do it. You’ll be welcomed with open arms and have no problem understanding what to do.
