Sunday, March 30, 2014

April's Volunteer of the Month at TLC

This is probably one of the hardest things I have to do each month for we have SO many GREAT volunteers at TLC... There are some we seldom see at the rescue shop but work LONG hours from their homes, doing TLC magic... And then we have others (we call them the 'young guns') who work just as many LONG hours at the rescue shop... TLC volunteers lead with their heart and step up with their commitment and dedication to saving dogs...  It is a tough decision to make each month - trust me!

And so... (drum roll here)...
Congratulations to Arissa - 

April's Volunteer of the Month!


I met Arissa shortly after we took over the rescue shop in January of 2012... She was a VERY quiet and VERY shy dog walker... I think she barely said ten words to me the first month I knew her... Big Joe took Arissa under his wing and loved her like one of his own... 

Arissa is like a sponge, soaking up everything around her in the environment... She has tremendous work ethic for one so young and the energy of nitro in a race car... I remember turning around one day, totally exhausted and Arissa is still 'a blowin and a goin'... I couldn't believe I had run out of steam and she was still as fresh as a daisy (until I remembered that I am almost three times her age!)... 

But it is not just hard work that makes Arissa so special - it is her attention to detail and follow through - critical in what we do in the rescue and the rescue shop... 

More than once, Arissa has 'taken her work home with her' and is currently fostering an old timer with her family... She has also taken on bottle babies, nursing them through scary times and into great health... Arissa is currently our Training Coordinator and gets new volunteers up to speed on what we do... And recently she took on a new project we call 'Microchip Mondays' where we do low cost microchipping in the hopes more dogs get chipped and quickly found if ever lost...

Arissa has learned so much in her almost two and half years with us at TLC and she approaches every new challenge with gusto... I have often said that this is the next generation of No-Kill in our county and if I know Arissa, she will continue to be out there on the front line, making a positive change in the number of pets being saved for years to come.

CONGRATULATIONS, ARISSA!  And thank you for being such an important part of TLC!

Linda, Director

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