Sunny Singh, Volunteer Since 2020
Learning From Our Canine Companions
Former marine Sunny Singh discovered just how much animals can teach us during an incident with his first dog, King. King was repeatedly getting into the garbage. Sunny lost his patience and reacted more angrily than he should have. “I was overly harsh with him,” Sunny recalls. “And the first thing he did was come up to me slowly and lick my face. My understanding of compassion began in that moment — with that one lick.”
Since then, Sunny has continued in his appreciation of all the things animals bring to our lives, and how much we can learn from them. He began to look for ways to volunteer and found North Shore Animal League America. For over a year now, Sunny has been helping out walking dogs, assisting with adoptions, and lending a hand with the felines — wherever he is needed, Sunny is pleased to do his part. Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, Sunny continued to show up for the animals.
Volunteers like Sunny not only enable us to fulfill our promise to all the animals in our care, but help make our organization better. Victoria Gravina, Animal League America Senior Volunteer Manager noted, “Since coming on board, Sunny quickly proved himself to be a jack of all trades! Sunny approaches all tasks with passion and care and is an incredible mentor to new volunteers. His enthusiasm is absolutely infectious — I have never seen Sunny without a smile on his face!”
Sunny doesn’t hesitate to recommend volunteering to anyone with a love of animals: “I’m really grateful for Animal League America. I feel like I found my purpose through volunteering here. To know I’m clearly making a difference is probably one of the most rewarding things in my life. It’s just amazing.”
April is Volunteer Appreciation Month
At North Shore Animal League America, we could not perform all of the hands-on work that we do without the help of our incredible team of dedicated volunteers!
If you’d like to learn more about the Volunteer Program and available opportunities visit animalleague.org/volunteer.