Recently, members of Direct Action Everywhere NYC visited the new location of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary to spend the day volunteering. I met some really beautiful and amazing animals.

The DxE volunteering crew! Our fellow friend and volunteer snapped the photo.

Animal sanctuaries are not only great places to bring your non-vegan family and friends, but they’re also a great place for you to volunteer. No matter the sanctuary, there will always be a need for volunteers, so please check with your local sanctuary to see what they may need.

Organizing a group outing is easy to do. Our DxE chapter has been doing monthly sanctuary trips for the past few months. We simply email a sanctuary and ask when would be a good time to come visit, we let them know how many people we plan on bringing. Work has varied from cleaning up forests of debris and trash, to staining a porch, to cleaning out barns. The bonus of volunteering is that you still get plenty of time to meet the animals, so it’s a win-win!

By volunteering we not only only provide valuable work for the sanctuaries, we also promote their name and mission in social media through platforms like Facebook and Instagram and our personal blogging sites. It’s really important to not only highlight the life-saving work of these sanctuaries but also to get the stories of individual animals out there. When we individualize the suffering of animals, it is far more likely that our non-vegan family and friends will respond and take action.

There are so many stories of cruelty and abuse out there. It is my opinion that we need to share the stories of rescue. I volunteer because I want to support those who are saving lives and I want to show animals that not all humans want to hurt them. Volunteering at sanctuaries is life-affirming. I feel good knowing I am making a difference in the lives of animals.

Goats!

Me and Fawn. She’s so beautiful.

I actually don’t remember this goat’s name but we had a fun time taking photos. I took some selfies with her too 🙂

At the end of the day, Lexi came running to make sure we said goodbye.

Clyde hung out in the volunteer room and wanted everyone to know him. He strutted around and enjoyed hanging out on people’s legs and laps!

Do you volunteer at sanctuaries? Do you have a sanctuary? Share your story in the comments!