Chimp Haven

I first heard about Chip Haven 3 years ago. I was reading about research chimps and the somewhat new legislation that says when they have reached the end of the time having research done on them they need to be given a safe place to live out the remainder of there lives. The article stated that only a few facilities in the United States were currently licensed to do this and one was just outside of Shreveport LA

I knew that I had to go visit. It turned out to be much more complicated than I expected. Chimp Haven believes strongly that their service to the chimps is not a zoo and as a result have very limited public access days. Advanced planning is a must, but the experience is well worth it.

Chimp Haven is a huge facility tucked behind a public green-space giving it the feeling of being even more secluded than it is. During public access days the chimps are lured to the viewing side with an excess of toys and treats, giving you as the visitor a really great animated experience.

Will I go again? Yes if I can make the schedule work

Advice for those living in east Texas: Visit Chimp Haven and pay extra for the hay ride. Plan a trip to visit the park outside Chimp Haven, bring your bike and enjoy the trails. If your like me and love to volunteer check the web site to see if you can be a parking attendant on public access days as a chance to give back to this really wonderful haven,

The Why of Work: Enrich the world

As my post at the end of September alluded I have been on a journey reading and processing the book "The Why of Work" By Dave and Wendy Ulrich. The Ulriches and the book even have a web site: http://thewhyofwork.com/ . After quickly being captured by some startling research I find myself contemplating the section titled 'Leaders who focus on Meaning create an abundant response'.

President Woodrow Wilson said "You are not here merely to make a living. you are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand"

The Wlriches write that... As humans and employees we engage in a search for meaning. As a leader many see this as a personal affair and that is a loss to not only the company but world.


 ...but perhaps we are too narrowly defining leaders. Leadership need not be confined to an executive suite. Every person in your company, management chain or organization has the capacity to enrich the world, its your role to create that opportunity regardless of where on the management chain you sit. Perhaps if we start to think of ourselves and those we work alongside and those we manage as leaders the above statement that leaders see the search for meaning as a personal affair can be altered where those who are not in the executive suite see their potential for leadership and the benefit to society if we work to create opportunities for those around us to enrich the world.


I am fortunate working in a social service organization that hope and vision not the paycheck is what drives those around me. My volunteers are the fulfillment of this concept and I merely need to ensure that they have the ongoing opportunity to lead projects, programs and each other to fulfill our service mission in the community.

The question I find myself pondering is how do I guide those around me to see their capacity and success in enriching the world. What process or activity do I need to persue to guide them to this realization? Is my guidance really needed? Would someone else be better suited for the role? Is everyone around me aware of their success in enriching the world and I am just looking for a new way to state the obvious?

Volunteer Burn Out

If a fire is left alone and not fed with any new fuel, it will eventually burn itself out. If the fire of your enthusiasm is not being refueled by the satisfaction of your volunteer work, your enthusiasm - just like a fire - will die

The signs we hate to see and the words we hope to never hear are those typed as volunteer burn out.
The best volunteers are usually the ones most prone to burnout. That's because they're so dedicated, they often fail to take mental health breaks or ask for help. And because they're so dedicated, organizations often pile more and more responsibility on them. This is not activity specific, I have seen it happen across every sector I have worked with. I read an interesting study done by an organization that had a suicide help line. While I think most people can easily identify why volunteers on this help line would be prone to burn out, if found that their top 3 reasons for leaving were strikingly similar to those that I see across the volunteer sector.

1. Other demands in the volunteers life took on greater importance.
2. The volunteer did not feel part of a team.
3. Responsibilities and expectations were not clear.

We as volunteer organizations have little control over the number 1 reason, however both 2 and 3 are within our realm of impact.

If you sense a high rate of burn out in your organization start with building a team. Forbes outlines 6 team-building success strategies that not coincidentally address point 3: 

1.       Be Aware of How You Work

As the leader of the team, you must be extremely aware of your leadership style and techniques.   

2.       Get to Know the Rest of the Team

You must make the time to get to know your team and encourage camaraderie.   

3.       Clearly Define Roles & Responsibilities

When you successfully complete step 2, you can then more effectively and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of those on your team.  

4.       Be Proactive with Feedback

 Feedback should be proactive and constant.   Many leaders are prone to wait until a problem occurs before they give feedback.

5.       Acknowledge and Reward

  Take the time to give your teammates the proper accolades they have earned and deserve.   

6.       Always Celebrate Success

 This goes beyond acknowledgment – this is about taking a step-back and reflecting on what you have accomplished and what you have learned throughout the journey.

Volunteering in East Texas

This blog started as a way to track our volunteering while overseas and volunteer we did, than returned to the US and started to work for non profits and really have had limited energy to write about volunteering when our lives have been consumed by the non profit sector. All that said I did want to make mention of the 6 month search I went on to find a volunteer opportunity in the Longview/ Kilgore area.

I e-mailed several leads, even stopped at the animal shelter but nothing really seemed to want me, that is until I approached the Kilgore Downtown Development team and they had me join with open arms. I am now trying to do what I can to launch a small business social media strategy to increase business in our historic down town. I did some support for our local comic store and am looking forward to continuing to build the project over the upcoming months!

Moral of the story is with lots of searching and trying you will find something that needs your talent and will give you a volunteer experience here in east Texas.