I quit my volunteering gig and am sad

[PaulaO]

Today was the final email that broke my back. I've been less than enchanted for quite some time with the rescue I was volunteering with. I tend to get places early, and even though the "shift" doesn't start til 4:30, I would get there at 4:20, walk around and say hi to the horses. I was told that because of insurance blahblahblah don't start until 4:30 AND IF YOU GET HERE EARLY SIT IN YOUR CAR.

Sit in my car? I'm 59 years old, FFS. Oh, and I forgot. There is a snack bar open to the public attached to the barn. I wasn't told to sit in there and have a Coke, or read. No, sit in your car.

This is in addition to other things, like me trying to pick the hooves of a horse with no manners, only to have the shift supervisor look up from her personal texting and say "I forgot to tell you not to pick out his hooves." REALLY????

Now I'm being asked for feedback as to why I resigned. I can't exactly say "the president is a controlling b!tch."

Whatever. The good thing is I met Kim there, who brought me to her barn, and there I got Ariel.

[Chisamba]

Send them a copy of the email, and explain what parts of it you found offensive. I am reasonably sure that insurance does not exist that is limited by time /shifts.

[WheresMyWhite]

And sure, as long as you put it in a politically correct way, you can say the president is a controlling b*tch.

If you have concerns about the micromanagement you can, IMO, certainly say that you don't understand why you have to sit in your car until you shift starts, why you can't provide some low level horse care or behavior. You can say, IMO, that is an environment you don't feel comfortable working it. Particularly if you are not the only volunteer who feels the way you do, the rescue "management" needs to know there is an issue. If they choose to do nothing about it, would not be your fault and they will need to deal with whatever consequences there might be.

Yeah, it is dancing around but sometimes that's what it takes.

And you found a friend and a horse during your engagement there

I am a bit in the middle of "something" that is a volunteer opportunity. Fortunately, if I decline the opportunity, the volunteer staff would be very supportive but you can bet your bottom dollar that if I end up declining, the position organizers will know in the most polite way why

[Rockabilly]

I bet there is someone here.......I'm thinking of Quelah who could help you find the right words. When it's all over you will still be you and she will still be a bitch. I would think of it that way, I guess. Plus you got Ariel out of all of it and that's important because good horses are so hard to find.

[boots-aregard]

Of course you can say the president is a controlling bitch. How else is she supposed to know?

Or you can simply say, "Micromanagement". Or "Lack of respect for my years of experience with horses AND years of appropriate caution." or "Personality conflict." or "Insane rules." Or just send the emails in.

I am not volunteering for my organization now either (not horse related) because they are very badly organized, and the time I have to give is valuable to _me_. I don't want it wasted. (NOT that they asked!!!)

[Hayburner]

Oh my - Sit in your car - how RUDE !

On a positive note - you will now have more time to spend with Ms. Ariel and help out at that barn which makes you HAPPY!!

Unfortunately, there are B@@ches no matter where you work or play...or Mean Girls as I like to refer to them....

[Rhianon]

Sometimes people in organizations fail to realize that a volunteer is not an employee. Also, sometimes volunteers fail to understand how darned hard it is to get people to just follow a few simple rules that might seem silly but allow the system to function. Or that an overworked person might forget to tell you something important.

If you don't tell the truth about the issues, they can't be discussed and corrected if necessary. So if you believe in what this organization is trying to do, it is important to take a stand. Politely and firmly.

[WheresMyWhite]

PaulaO, I also volunteer (as previously noted). This week I was in a presentation given to some of the volunteers where I "work".

Some I kinka knew but not really.

If your rescue is a bona fide charitable organization, your as well as other's volunteer hours are consider 'in kind' services. Each state's actual dollar value is slightly differently but the estimated value is about $23/hour! That is a lot of money that a charity is receiving via in kind donated volunteer hours.

I thought good for you to know and if your charity is not appropriately appreciative of your donated time a) they should be and b) should do what they can to both support you as a volunteer as well as thank you

[angela9823]

What were your "duties" as a volunteer? Did it involve the horses? If not, perhaps this is the issue. Their insurance may not cover you handling the horses? This could be a liability if you were doing something you weren't asked to do or in your job title and this person didn't know a proper way to ask you not to handle the horses. I think of it this way: you may know how to handle a forklift just fine. However, if you are not the person licensed to operate a forklift but you do it and someone gets hurt, the insurance won't cover it.

Does the president get paid? Or is this also a volunteer position? I just think about the dressage boards and how they get president elects. Those people aren't interviewed and asked how they may handle certain situations as they arise. This president may have the best of intentions. Perhaps someone else brought up the issue to the president. If you don't let someone know how you feel about how this was handled, they can't learn and grow from it.

I volunteer with a dog transport group. Sometimes I don't like the emails that come out from the person that runs the group. I feel she can come off rude and doesn't recognize that the volunteers have lives and spend a lot of time/effort taking Saturdays to do this. Then I remember just how HARD her job is every other week. She has to organize 13 different transport groups (every fifty miles a different group receives the dogs), work on getting the home inspections done, makes certain paperwork is appropriate for the dogs going across state lines, deals with all the different rescue groups etc. This person has a hard and stressful volunteer job. Sometimes I feel the harsh emails are directed at me personally. Then I step back and evaluate the intention behind it. She keeps the dogs safe and gets them into great homes. That is all that matters in the end - now how pleasant her emails are.

[PaulaO]

I volunteered in the barn, which is grooming horses, doctoring any minor owies, picking stalls, filling and cleaning water buckets, preparing the next day's supplements, sweeping, putting out horses and bringing them in. This is all covered under their insurance.

I don't mind the work; I object to being micromanaged and not appreciated. I object to being told "sit in your car." And it wasn't done nicely. It wasn't preceded by "I appreciate the work you do and your enthusiasm in getting here early." I maintain you can tell someone to go to hell and it won't be taken the wrong way if you do it in the right tone of voice.

I will still support the group--I am participating in their first marathon next month. I just won't volunteer IN the barn. I have enough of that with my own horse.