I’m here to help the animals, so why am I painting? How does this help? 
It’s exciting to take teams of people to work parties at Pasados Safe Haven animal sanctuary every few months for it’s always something new, every time!
We never know what we’re doing ahead of time, and because we go both on the stormiest days in January and on the warmest days in August and everything in between, we need to be ready for anything! Some of our past projects have included cleaning the cow pasture, clearing a dog-walking trail, cleaning and organizing an overflowing barn and cleaning the hen house walls. 
This past Saturday 5 of us went. And the job? Painting! Did I remember paint clothes? Nope. But the all-wise and project-experienced Kathi advised me “Turn your clothes inside out” and Yes, it worked. We had a great day painting both indoors and out, during the rain downpour and the sun breaks. We completed 3 projects: Fresh coat of paint in the fox hound house; trim on the smaller poultry houses; and the beam inside the large poultry barn. I’d show the “after” pictures, but I forgot to take them!
Which brings me back to the opening sentence – How does my painting a barn help the animals?
Well, It just does.
Lets start with attitude. Working, living, being , in an attractive environment helps human moral e stay light. If a person is proud of the place they working in, they are more productive, helpful and flexible. It’s much easier for animals to be around people in this state, so the animals have better outcomes in training and socialization and potential adoptability. Donors, investors and adopters feel more confident working with an organization that cares about its appearance as it’s commonly believed to be a reflection of the overall management of the animals, books and facility.
Plus, a simple coat of paint can help improve the structural integrity, so potentially the life of these buildings is being extended.
But above all, any work we do frees up a staff member from doing it, which then allows them to spend more time in direct care for the animal. If I can free up the dog trainer from painting to work on socializing a dog or correcting a behavior issue, which results in an adoption, then my painting was well worth it. Or if I can free up time for a vet tech so they can spend more time caring for post-op cow, cat or lamb, then why wouldn’t I? Even if it’s just time spent hanging out with the animals, my goal is to make life a little easier or happier for every animals.
This week our painting freed up about 15 professional hours so the staff could apply their specialized training directly to the animals. And for that I’m very happy.
And I’d say, Time well spent.
