This Halloween, I decided to volunteer at Susquehanna University’s Halloween on the Ave. From 6-8 PM, University Ave was flooded with Spidermen, princesses, dinosaurs, and waffle-yielding Elevens. My friends were all obligated to hand out candy along with their respective Greek organizations. I didn’t want to be left out of the festivities, so I signed up to volunteer at one of the activity stations. I was luckily assigned to my first choice of station, the petting zoo! I find spending time around animals to be very therapeutic for my anxiety/depression so I try to take every chance I can get to cuddle with furry friends.
The animals were brought over by Ashburn’s Animals. Their owner, Janel, explained to me that she has a menagerie license with a local zoo through which she sometimes gets to help temporarily raise baby kangaroos and other cool animals. She brought a miniature cow, pony, 2 sheep, and about 6 goats with her last night.
As it turned out, the Ashburn’s crew had not even requested volunteers, however, they made me feel very welcome. I spent the full two hours in the pen with the animals, helping kids feed them. I had a great time keeping Owen away from the smaller children (he might be a mini cow but he had a full-sized appetite for those ice cream cones!) My favorite part of the night was when a mom brought her son in his wheelchair into the pen and I lifted one of the goats so that he would be able to feed her. The owner noticed this and pulled me aside to thank me for jumping to action when I noticed that he was struggling to get the animals attention. Janel explained that their pen was designed specifically to allow handicapped people to enter, however, at busier events, they often don’t have enough staff to be as attentive as she would like.
After two hours of shivering in the dropping temperatures, I was pretty eager to go make some hot chocolate in my dorm. However, I’d also already decided by that point that I need to adopt a goat ASAP. I recruited my roommate take pictures of me holding one of the goats. About three pictures in, the goat I was cradling began snuggling into my neck and my heart soared.
If you’re interested in volunteering at Ashburn’s Animals, check out their website: http://ashburnsanimals.com/
If you don’t hear back away, Janel mentioned to me that she didn’t start her non-profit for the love of the office duties! Hang tight while she is off feeding the goats and don’t be afraid to (politely) follow up with an additional email or phone call.