BY ELIZABETH EGAN, STAFF WRITER
Every year, the Franciscan Center For Social Concern holds a Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Giving Tuesday is a national campaign to kick off the giving season leading up to Christmas. It follows the more commonly known Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The donations collected on Giving Tuesday day make a significant impact on the organization’s ability to fund their numerous programs. The programs include The Warming House, Bona Buddies, Break the Bubble, SBU@SPCA, Silver Wolves and more. All of these programs do great work and while the money is important, so are the volunteers. These programs could not run without their wonderful volunteers.
In the weeks leading up to Giving Tuesday one St. Bonaventure student who stands out as a particularly amazing volunteer will be featured every Friday. This week, that volunteer is Neeya Shetty .
Neeya, a sophomore Biology major from Long Island, N.Y., has volunteered for the SBU@SPCA program many times during her time at St. Bonaventure. The program takes weekly visits to Cattaraugus County’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a no-kill animal shelter. Volunteers go once a week and get to spend time walking and playing with the dogs and cats. They also sometimes clean the cages…which sounds gross but is a huge help to the animals and staff.
Neeya heard about the opportunity to volunteer with SBU@SPCA through the club fair. She decided to volunteer for the organization because she loves animals and missed her friend’s dog at home.
Neeya’s favorite part of volunteering is walking the dogs, especially the ones that do not get walked very often. There is a gorgeous trail to walk them on and the dogs are always so excited to get out and walk with a new person.
To anyone thinking about volunteering with the SBU@SPCA, Neeya says to not be scared to try something that you have not tried before. She has seen people walk in as dog people and leave as cat people.
Volunteering at the SPCA is a great way for students to have new experiences if they have never had a dog or cat as a pet, and it does so much good for the animals. Not to mention walking dogs and playing with cats is fun and a great way to relax and relieve stress. I can also say from experience that it is a great way to get over missing any pets you left at home.
Thanks Neeya, for all the time that you have donated to SPU@SPCA! Interested in volunteering like Neeya? Check out the Franciscan Center For Social Concerns website for more information.
