I was a consultant for a prominent volunteer organization, created an area of expertise I became familiar with, and created 14 projects per month, seven times what the other project managers did.
Great team leaders were trained by me and sent out into the field for daily projects, like spaying and neutering 172 feral cats. I had such great people that I rarely attended a cat facility and concentrated my efforts on ferals and rescued Greyhounds and regularly checked in on my leaders.
In the end that Cares organization was taken over by United Way and all the Project Managers were summarily fired. I will not be giving money to United Way or volunteering for them. United Way lured me to an event to have me introduce them to a prominent legislator I helped elect, then fired me on the spot, as a volunteer.
In my years here I have not been offered any volunteer opportunities to which I can match my leadership and teamwork and get my hands dirty skills. Now Cares is run by United Way. They don’t embrace people like me and I believe it is a flaw in their carefully-run system. Don’t “hire” a volunteer who is smart and a leader, that is the policy. I can’t work for free for a company that cares for no-one, or be a donor. If I’m not out there in the field I am of no use to anyone.
My kids/volunteers used to call out “This one has ringworm. This one has mange. Call Dee!” That they did. I caught ringworm once. They were my peeps and watched their breathing and I dealt with surgery, talked shots and vaccines, flea combing and transport and ER and volunteer training. Now I have a husband, dog and assistant, and 1/2 of a business. I want to be useful. Dee
Cooking with Dee 
I created “Dee’s Kitty Wake-Up List, something for the “breathers” to check off on a clipboard I bought for them. Years later they changed the name. The name was only a draft, they adopted the policy. When the kitty awakens it is out of anaesthesia and just napping until caretaker pick-up.