April 23-29 is National Volunteer Week. A week set aside to celebrate the best of the best…those who give freely of themselves to make a difference for others.

Our HSMC volunteers are the unsung heroes of the shelter. Many people attend orientation and some even stop by few times but then life gets in the way and priorities change. And then there are the hardcore dedicated group that becomes family to our pets, our visitors and our staff. We wish we could make every volunteer here a Jefferson Award Winner, or have the Prize Patrol or maybe the Ellen Show come and lavish them with gifts and accolades!  Yet for our volunteers, a simple heartfelt “thank you” and the love of the many animals here whose lives they have impacted is all that is needed.

When we were short staffed, volunteers were there to pick up the slack. Loads of soiled blankets and towels, stacks of smelly and yukky litter pans, hundreds of food bowls met their match with our volunteers. There are dogs needing to be walked, kitties needing playtime and socialization, bunnies and small critters needing handling? It’s Volunteers to the rescue.

Off site visits to Petco, Katzenbarkers and Marathon Town and Country get our adoptables seen in a new light away from the encumbrances of the kennels. Volunteers take special adoptable pets to various assisted living facilities… a gift for the pets and the residents!

HSMC volunteers organize and work fundraising events, help with special mailings, squelch rumors and untruths about the shelter, perform classroom visits, pick up supplies and donations, mow the yard, weed the landscaping, unfold newspapers for the cat cages, and perform poop patrol duties in the pen and yard. Some take pictures at events and of our pets for our website.

Our volunteers bathe dogs, brush cats, comfort the frightened, reassure the elderly and assist interested adopters in meeting new pets.

Out volunteers give us a shoulder to lean on, a reminder that the privilege we have to work here should not be taken lightly, and that volunteers who receive no pay do the tasks shoulder to shoulder with staff without grumbling.   The list is so long and it is likely many tasks have been missed, but the sentiment remains the same…

HSMC VOLUNTEERS ARE THE BEST VOLUNTEERS… AND WE SALUTE YOU!