Heroes Among Us

What do you call someone who loves animals so much, that they will get up before the sun comes up, travel to the city to a dark and quiet shelter, feed, clean and leash up a puppy and gather bags of supplies to head out to an early morning media appearance which includes hours of wait times, just to pack up the puppy once again and head back?

What do you call someone who day after day, week after week and year after year, sits at the front desk of an animal shelter, answering phones, handling complaints, tackling front line issues with people and pets and never makes a dime nor asks for anything in return?

What do you call someone who comes in before the sun rises to walk some of the more difficult long stay dogs and knows as much about them as any staff member?

What do you call a couple who repeatedly foster some of the most difficult animals in the shelter?  One after another, after another. So many in fact, that they have even been featured on the news?!

And what do you call someone who comes in to stay overnight at the shelter during snowstorms to make sure that if anyone can’t get to the shelter first thing in the morning – that the animals will be taken care of?

You may call them a volunteer.  But we call them heroes and all of us at Bideawee are so very grateful for everything they have done and continue to do for us and the animals in our care.  We welcome their dedication, their passion and their willingness to help for no other reason than their love and dedication to animals.  Whether they help by doing administrative duties, opening their homes to a foster pet, doing laundry, cleaning dishes, scooping litter, administering medication, socializing cats and dogs, or answering phones, they are helping Bideawee save even more animals and enabling us to fulfill our mission.

April is Volunteer appreciation month according to the calendar – but here at Bideawee we think EVERY DAY should be volunteer appreciation day!  Thank you to our volunteer Heroes; we could not do our lifesaving work without you, and we are eternally grateful to you today and every day!