May 2008 Volunteer of the Month - Tami Tanoue
Tami is an amazing volunteer, and we could write pages on how much she contributes to the MaxFund. In fact, she was nominated for volunteer of the month by multiple volunteers and even staff.
Tami handles the dog handling portion of new volunteer orientation. Her wit and knowledge help new volunteers feel comfortable and excited about walking dogs. She also designed and teaches the Lobby Greeter training, which is a
very important class. In addition to helping with classes, Tami is extremely helpful with new volunteers. She always has a smile and a minute to explain things to those who aren't "in the know" yet.
Tami also fosters many animals, sets up appointments with prospective adopters and gives staff the input concerning these potential pet parents. She brings food for staff and other volunteers and she donates constantly, whether it is toys for dogs, dog food, money or a tag machine. Tami has also been extremely helpful with mobile adoption events. For example, just recently she helped with the pet expo and helped to make sure we had dogs and cats represented. Whether it is at the shelter or outside events, MaxFund can always count on Tami to step up, contribute and make things go well.
Tami is a huge asset for MaxFund and she is appreciated by the humans and furries alike! Thank you, Tami, for all you do!
April 2008 Volunteer of the Month - Janice Baker
Since becoming a volunteer at MaxFund, Janice has become a huge asset to the organization. She loves the cats, interacts with them (even some of the more difficult ones) and does everything she can to help them get adopted. Realizing that the cats in the clinic have little chance for adoption on the weekends (since the clinic is closed), Janice became a lobby greeter. On Saturdays, she consistently escorts people to the clinic, so those cats get a chance for adoption.
Janice was also instrumental in designing a new system to identify why cats are in cages. New volunteers have no idea why a cat is in a cage, and they don't know if the cats are allowed to free roam or not. Janice designed a cage card that tells volunteers why a cat is in the cage and if a cat can come out to stretch and fee roam. This new system is great for not only volunteers, but also staff. With this system, more cats will have a chance to leave their cages occasionally.
Janice has also begun to help with the cat bios. With so many cats, it became difficult to keep the web constantly updated. With Janice's help, we're getting more cats on the web.
Finally, Janice volunteers on the marketing committee. She has written press releases, and she worked hard to help MaxFund generate money from the sale of Avalanche tickets on February 14. She stepped up to run this event, and it was a great success.
Janice has become indispensible in such a short time. Thank you Janice for all you do!
March 2008 Volunteer of the Month - Ed Dahlgren
Ed has been a long time volunteer at the MaxFund. He comes in regularly and works with some of the more difficult dogs. Sometimes Ed picks animals up from other shelters and takes them home until they are ready for the MaxFund. He also constantly opens up his own home as a foster family for some dogs that aren't adjusting well
at the shelter.
Ed is also involved with the Champs program. He was an active member of the Tech Committee while that committee existed. With his great computer knowledge, he also figured out how we can add new products to the zootoo.com website, which has allowed all of us to accumulate more points. He alone has already accumulated 10,671 points! He has a sincere passion for animals and spends a lot of his time sharing his passion with MaxFund! In addition, his personality and humor make volunteering at the shelter all the more enjoyable!
Thank you Ed for all that you do.
February 2008 Volunteer of the Month - Lindsay St Antoine
Lindsay is an energetic and dedicated volunteer. In November, Lindsay held a fundraising event that she coordinated and marketed on her own. It was the first time this event had ever been held, and it included a silent auction, a raffle for Frontier Airlines tickets and an art sale. This event raised roughly $4500!!!! This was a phenomenal success for any event, let alone a first time event put together by one person.
Lindsay also contributes around the shelter. In particular, she is a dedicated feral cat volunteer. Not many volunteers spend time with the feral cats, but Lindsay loves these guys. She helps to make sure cats that are not feral get moved out into other rooms where they get exposure and have a chance for adoption. This is an incredibly important role. Lindsay was also helpful is re-writing the bios for the feral cats.
Thank you Lindsay for your hard work and dedication!
January 2008 Volunteer of the Month - Bill Brown
Bill is a long time dog walker. He focuses on the dogs who aren't as socialized and don't get as many walks. He comes in every Sunday and takes out as many dogs as possible, usually getting 5 dogs out for a long walk! During those especially harsh months last winter, he was one of the few walkers who took the large size dogs out on the icy streets, so they could get out of the shelter.
The dogs at MaxFund are lucky to have Bill. We volunteers are also very lucky. In December 2006, Bill created a custom computer program to log the volunteer hours. He designed it specifically for the MaxFund. In the past, volunteers logged their hours in a notebook. Often, pages from the notebook would disappear, and we had to manually tabulate our hours. Then, someone would have to manually enter in all volunteer hours, which took a lot of time but was necessary for grants. With Bill's new system, hundreds of MaxFund volunteers have registered their hours with ease. It is saving us a great deal of time and labor.
Thank you Bill for all you do!
December Volunteer of the Month - Karen Bevan
Karen organized and led the first annual MaxFund golf tournament to benefit the MaxFund rehab range. Although this was a new event, it raised a resounding $5700! That is amazing! Karen was a huge reason why it was so successful. The event involved getting sponsors, players and donations and giving away prizes, making it fun for golders, etc. With such a big event, Karen worked hard for months. Without her, this event would not have been such a huge success.
She also volunteers countless hours at the shelter, helping out with the animals and helping with other events throughout the year.
Thank you Karen for all your hard work!
November Volunteer of the Month - Cindy Jarrell
Cindy Jarrell is an outstanding, long-term volunteer at the MaxFund. Through her efforts with mobile adoptions, Cindy has single-handedly gotten over 500 cats adopted! Cindy coordinates adoptions at PetsMart, so she chooses the cats and looks after their well-being while they are on-site. She also works many other events each week, including the Belmar Farmer's Market, so our cats get a chance to find a home. Hundreds of cats can thank Cindy for being such a tireless and committed cat lover. In fact, many people probably think Cindy works at the MaxFund, because she is there so often.
Cindy also is a dedicated foster mom. She has taken in many cats to allow them to heal and find other homes. She has also taken in older cats, so they can live out their last days in a special home. Thanks to Cindy, many cats have gotten a second chance on life.
Thank you Cindy for your dedication and love of cats. The MaxFund is lucky to have you.
October Volunteer of the Month - Donna Cashen!
Donna is a dream volunteer and a true lover of all of MaxFund’s creatures. She has proven to be an invaluable volunteer in the Wellness Center. She takes the animals, especially the older and injured ones, out of their cages and spends quality time with them. She lets them play in the office, brushes them and loves them. She has a lap that the cats adore. Some of these animals, especially the cats, have no opportunity to get out of their cages. Because Donna takes them to the clinic office, they get a chance to roam free and enjoy life a little bit.
Donna is always thinking about what’s best for the animals. She will wrap up the ones who just got out of surgery and hold them. She buys food and special supplies for those animals that need it. Everything that she does is for the animals. She has a common sense approach and adds light whenever she is around. You’d think Donna works at the clinic given how often she is there. She was also the reason the clinic was able to start the yard. Of course, Donna is also great with humans. She is friendly and helpful to other volunteers and adds a loving presence.
Thank you Donna!
September Volunteer of the Month - Eva Keleti!
Eva is an amazing volunteer. She volunteers in the Champs program working with some of MaxFund longer term dogs. She is wonderful and loving with them, and she handles some of the more challenging ones. Although Eva initially intended to only work with the dogs, she has become a wonderful cat advocate. Each week after walking the dogs, she plays with and brushes the cats in the lobby and Incoming Room. She takes particular interest in some of the older and scared cats. She also works to get cats put on the foster list.
Eva is also a great resource regarding cats. She has her own FIV cats, so she is able to teach cat volunteers about FIV. With greater knowledge, more volunteers can help get the FIV cats adopted and stop people from being nervous about them. She also teaches volunteers and staff how to handle scared cats. Her knowledge and resources have been invaluable for the cats. Additionally, she participates in brainstorming and actions to get older cats adopted and feral cats socialized.
MaxFund is lucky to have Eva. Thank you Eva!
August Volunteer of the Month - Cindy Engle!
Cindy is a fantastic volunteer who cares so deeply for all our animals, especially the dogs. While spending tireless hours at the shelter working with the dogs, walking them and caring for them, she helps with their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. In additional to doing the traditional walking, she brings new ideas to the shelter (such as flower essences and oils) to help the animals’ emotional and spiritual health. She brings them peace, love, health and common sense.
She also is a pleasure for those of us that are two-legged. She laughs a lot and brings a great perspective to all of us. The dogs and humans at MaxFund are better off because Cindy decides to volunteer at the shelter. Thank you Cindy!!!
July Volunteer of the Month - Ken Mann!
Ken has put in countless hours working with the MaxFund dogs and the MaxFund Champs program for the several years he has been volunteering with MaxFund, and really deserves a pat on the back. He has worked with a lot of our more challenging-to-adopt animals, such as Molly Dharma and even helped Molly transition into her new home with my good friend, Kirk! He has not signed off on Molly and even visits her on occasion in her new home. In addition to helping with the dogs he also put in a number of hours into the recent Motorcycle Run with motorcycle-friendly.com, not only with helping plan and organize but helping publicize the event and helping the event run smoothly! One of Kens nominators wrote: "Ken was among the first of many friendly, loving and fun loving people that I knew I would just look up, or round the corner, and there they'd be, working and laughing and sharing knowledge and reassurance." Another nominator wrote "The amount of time and effort Ken put into this event was phenomenal, all the while keeping up his obligations to the MaxFund and the CHAMPS Program, and still finding time to visit, walk and baby sit "his girl", Molly Dharma. As a result, the entire event came off as one of the most well organized, generously supplied and fun motorcycle-centered fund-raisers in the area."
Thanks again for all your hard work, Ken!
June Volunteer of the Month - Coco Wham!
Coco's a very dedicated young volunteer! Even though she is only 13 years old, she spearheaded the campaign to get MaxFund on Extreme Makeover. She got 1652 petition signatures, and she created a video to send to the show. She's also been working with Carter & Highnoon productions on a TV show to remodel the nurses station. She had to interact with adults who sometimes did not have time to help. But she was persistent. She also came up with the emergency sticker idea, and pursued it diligently to a point where Matt could then pick it up and provide a professional finish. Coco can be seen almost every weekend at the MaxFund. She plays with cats, helps in the office and does anything asked of her.
Thank you Coco!
May Volunteer of the Month - Anne Huddle!
Anne took over the position of Foster Coordinator to place harder to adopt pets in homes. Since taking over, Anne has been vigilant about getting people to open their homes to our loving dogs and cats that otherwise might die at the shelter. For example, Dominic is an older cat with a thyroid problem who mostly sleeps. Most people who saw him in his cage felt sorry for him, but no one wanted to take him home. Anne found him a foster mom, and when the foster mom brought him back, Anne didn’t give up. She found him another home where he sleeps and gets the love he deserves in his old age. The dogs (including Sterling, Kodiak, Ariel, James, Valentino and Rusty) as well as the cats (including Kara, Benson, Estrellita, Dominic, Maurice, Blackjack, Cobra, Autumn, Louie, and Isabella) thank you!Thank you Anne!
Volunteer of the Month Nominations
Volunteers are an integral part of the MaxFund, and we are so thankful for all of you! You have contributed thousands of hours and allowed MaxFund to fulfill its mission. There are some whose efforts are particularly commendable, and we would like to recognize these people. Starting in April, we will celebrate and honor one volunteer each month for his/her exemplary contributions and good work.
Because the staff cannot always see all that volunteers do, we need your help in nominating volunteers. The nominations do not necessarily have to be based on time contributed. Rather, we need your help in recognizing people who go above and beyond, whether that’s clipping cat nails, walking around the neighborhood picking up dog poop, doing laundry for hours or any number of things. If you believe someone should be honored, please use the form below to nominate the person. A committee will choose the winner each month and winners will be posted!
