SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — There are multiple things you can do if want to volunteer. Those can include serving food, sitting with someone or taking care of animals.

In this week’s Flashback Friday, we go back to 1996 and introduce volunteers that introduced puppies to new people.

Don Thompson and his wife Sandra want to make sure everyone gets a chance to hold a puppy.

“Oh! oh, don’t bite me!”

They offered to take the Humane Society animals on visits, like this trip to the Covington Heights Health Care Center.

“You got the best of both worlds. You got the puppies, you got the people that love the puppies.”

“I just love the Humane Society, and I feel sorry for all the dogs and cats and everything else.”

But in these hands, the animals need no sympathy. They get all the love and attention they can handle. It teaches the animals love, patience, and manners. It gives the residents therapy and something to look forward to.

“Everyone’s had a pet sometime or another, and now you come back and see these people smile and hold them.”

The Thompsons recently retired after running the West 12th Street Dairy Queen. They now only spend part of the year here so they can’t keep a pet on their own. Their volunteer work gives them dozens of animals to love.

“If I’m going to be involved in something I want it to be animals. I love animals.”

“I’ve never met a dog I didn’t like I guess, so, I met a few people I didn’t like but not a dog.”

The Thompsons also enjoy meeting new people. Carrying a puppy facilitates the chatter.

“It’s the quickest way in the world to open any communication, is a puppy.”

“There’s just something about an animal that is so giving.”

There’s also something about the Thompsons, the giving of themselves to help others.

If you want to see more stories from our archive, click here.