by Joelle Steele

I wish I had a ton of money so that I could be a full-time philanthropist. I have only been able to afford donating money on a small scale, knowing that every little bit helps. I have always believed in giving as much as you can of your resources and time without expecting anything in return. I believe that if you donate money or things and then write them off on your taxes that you are not giving in the true spirit of giving. To that end, I have never written off a donation.

I have often given when I really couldn’t afford to give. There just always seem to be people who need help more than I do. Some actually paid me back, not because I required it or asked them to do so. I also helped people who needed more education to find better jobs. In that regard, over the years, I have sponsored small scholarships at several community colleges that offered vocational certificates. I have also donated money and time to a variety of animal charities. In fact, for many years, I gave 10% of all the proceeds from my website sales to animal charities and vocational certificate programs at local colleges. And, I have also donated things, such as art supplies to young artists and three computers to individuals I knew.

I strongly believe that everyone should be willing to give whatever they can, because it is so important to help others. It is, very simply, the right thing to do. In addition to giving money, I have also done a lot of volunteer work. I probably got that from my mother since she was always volunteering to do something. My earliest volunteer efforts were from the ages of 12 to 14 with my mother when she was doing hearing tests through Quota International. She had some training in this and was one of the volunteers administering the tests, and I worked as her assistant. I also stood behind the tables and helped her sell baked goods and assorted things at white elephant sales. From the ages of 15 to 17, I was a tutor to my fellow students in reading and English.

As an adult living in the San Francisco Bay Area from ages of 20-22, I participated in several sit-ins protesting the war in Vietnam, and at the same time read and wrote letters for hospitalized veterans who had just arrived stateside from Vietnam. And from 24 to 27, I was busily fund-raising and picketing businesses, first for Ralph Nader’s Consumer Action and later for a local group called Consumers Act Now. In southern California, from the ages of 31 to 35, I was volunteering with the homeless, battered women, and troubled teens, before I turned my attention to several non-profits, always doing procurements (getting “things” as opposed to money). In particular I spent fifteen years doing procurements for an organization that catered to the needs of other smaller non-profits. I spent a lot of time going through the basements and storerooms of hospitals to find items that could be used by the free clinics supported by that larger non-profit. I was shocked at the perfectly good furniture and supplies that were cast aside by these large institutions – such incredible waste! No wonder hospital bills are so enormous.

From the ages of about 36 to 45, I did a lot of editing and typesetting of newsletters for a dozen or more small non-profits throughout southern California, including groups that supported animals, gays/lesbians, nature preservation, and the homeless. In the Monterey area, from ages 50 to 54, I donated my time tutoring students in English and English literature, and also provided editorial and production services for “The Quarterly,” a newsletter of the Swedish Finn Historical Society – not a charity, but still a non-profit.

I also devoted many years of my life to the care of my own cats as well as to the welfare of other cats. I have written about and spoken out about my opinions regarding feline population control and breeding: Millions of perfectly adorable and healthy cats are destroyed in shelters every year throughout the world. This alone makes for an unarguable case in favor of spaying and neutering. Along those same lines, the deliberate and intentional commercial breeding of cats for characteristics appealing only to humans, and that carry known or potential health risks for the cats, should be abolished. Not only is this practice unconscionably cruel to these innocent creatures, but it is unnecessary and irresponsible given the innate beauty of cats and the enormous number of perfectly wonderful cats and kittens readily available for adoption everywhere. I feel exactly the same when it comes to spaying and neutering of dogs, stopping the breeding for characteristics and, of course, puppy mills.

And so, my biggest volunteer efforts have always been the ones that were closest to my heart: working with cats, the animals I love so much. I volunteered with low-cost/no-cost spay and neuter clinics because as many as 1.5 million cats are euthanized every year throughout the United States simply because their owners neglect to stop them from reproducing and creating an overpopulation of cats for whom there are not enough suitable homes. This is due to not having the money to do it or due to ignorance of why spaying and neutering are so critical. This is an important crusade of mine.

Also while in southern California, I worked with three different feral cat colony management groups to trap, spay/neuter, and provide medical attention to feral cats before releasing them back to their colonies. The purpose of this was to prevent these animals from spreading disease among themselves and to neighboring non-feral feline populations. In volunteer work with cats, I often worked directly with handling cats, but I also did a lot of writing to draw attention to what these various non-profit groups were doing and how people could participate by donating things, money, and time towards those efforts.

After moving to Lacey, Washington, I decided I was done volunteering. But, oh no, not quite yet. A student of mine wrangled me into helping people who were downsizing and needed help moving. My volunteer job was to meet with the downsizer, find out what they wanted and needed to take with them, give to friends or family, donate to a charity, and sell at a garage or estate sale. I did this about four times a year for five years. And then, finally, I quit volunteering.

I don’t miss working in most volunteer groups. It seems that in so many cases there are always some volunteers who don’t take the work seriously. They treat it like a hobby that they can pursue when it suits them, as opposed to when it is best for the cause and for the rest of the volunteers. When I commit to a cause, I’m always going to show up, always do what’s needed, never complain about what I’m asked to do, and always be respectful of the other volunteers. Wish others were more like that. It was my mother’s chief complaint about volunteering. So, adios to volunteering … at least for the moment.