Why Volunteer? Why Not!
This month we feature Janie Raynor, another wonderful volunteer that NCCR has been so fortunate to have on our team for the past seven years. Her assistance has been invaluable in so many areas of the Rescue over the years.”Growing up, my family always had a stray dog living in our house; almost always a big black dog. I started my married life with a black lab and eventually two at a time to keep each other company while I worked. When one passed in April of 2011, I went to NCCR to meet a lab named Preston and adopted him. At that time, I observed a very clean, well run shelter where the dogs seemed comfortable on their raised beds with soft blankets and they were excited to see people come in. After that visit I knew that I wanted to volunteer there and spend my time with the dogs.A few months later when I fully retired in September of 2011, I immediately began volunteering on the day shift. In April of 2012, I started the evening shift and continue to do so presently. During this time, in addition to doing shelter chores, I make adoption follow-up calls, puppy spay-neuter checks, schedule Safety Training for new volunteer applicants, update the volunteer listing, set up and attend events, rabies immunization clinics, etc. There is so much to do at the shelter and we need many volunteers to help with the care of the dogs. It is a heartwarming experience seeing the dogs have things they probably never had before and watching them come out of their shell and loving life. When trying to recruit volunteers, I’m often told “I couldn’t do that” and my response always is “Why not? Try it, you’ll like it.”
“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.” (author unknown).
