Volunteers of the Month: Adoption Center Office Workers

There is a lot more to do at Last Hope than deal directly with animals. There is a surprising amount of paperwork that goes along with running a rescue and our office volunteers help to make sure we keep up with it. We have volunteers who work during the week and they scan in adoption contracts, medical records from vet visits, intake forms, etc. After the document is scanned into the computer, they file it in the animal’s file. They also handle all the incoming mail, answer the phone, pass on phone messages, and greet walk-in visitors. We also have volunteers who work in the office on Saturdays and they primarily handle walk-in visitors and answer the phone.

We couldn’t help the animals without the assistance of these great office volunteers. The work they do is essential to our organization and we thank them for their time and talents!

Linda Pisney is the office volunteer coordinator and she trains all the office volunteers as well as work in the office during the week. She has been with Last Hope for about two years and also works as a dog lead volunteer. She says, “I love the people involved with Last Hope! All of us striving to help these animals that need us. I love it when they find their forever home.”

Sherri Eichmeyer works in the Adoption Center office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She adopted a dog from Last Hope about six years ago so she was familiar with the rescue when we moved into the Adoption Center and she began volunteering at that time. “It’s great being around like-minded people, and I enjoy meeting the other volunteers. It’s really heartwarming to see all the love and care they give all the animals. I especially enjoy having play time with the dogs!”

Aggie Doyle started volunteering in January 2017 and works in the office on Fridays. In addition to the usual tasks she also compiles the donations for the week so that thank you letters can be sent. She says, “I love the atmosphere of being at Last Hope. I adopted my puppy mill mama, Victoria, in February 2015 from Last Hope and I knew I would like to be a part. I actively cross-post all across the United States and am active in trying to get laws changed in Iowa. I absolutely love what Last Hope Animal Rescue is doing for dogs and cats. All of these people care!”

Karen Fangmann is relatively new to Last Hope – she began volunteering in July. Besides working in the office on Saturdays, she also helps take care of the cats at the Center. “Everyone that I have met has been so nice and I can tell there is a lot of dedication to not only Last Hope but also to the animals in their care. I was there for the first time on July 4^th weekend – what a crazy time to start as there were a lot of projects and events going on at that time. It was so very cool to see everyone’s dedication and working together for all of these weekend events. I like what Last Hope represents. It is the ‘last hope’ and so much more for these special pets.”

Laurie Bakkum and Laura DeRuiter also work in the office on Saturdays and their help is invaluable.

You can see it truly takes a village to do what we do. There are many behind-the-scenes jobs that need to be done in order for us to save the animals and if we didn’t have volunteers like these, we wouldn’t be able to do the important work that we do with the animals. Thank you, office volunteers, for all that you do!