What inspired you to volunteer at the League?
My oldest daughter, Rory, really wanted a cat of her own. At the time, we had an elderly cat named, June so I didn’t want to commit to adopting any additional animals. I told Rory we could look into fostering as long as she was prepared to take on a good portion of the responsibility with me. She agreed, so I began the fostering process, fell in love with it, and we foster-failed with our first batch!
What’s one of the most important/surprising things you’ve learned volunteering OR what’s the funniest thing that has happened while volunteering?
I typically foster neonatal kittens because I know they are the hardest to place. Until I started fostering, I had no idea how fragile kittens really were or the fact that “bottle-babies” are the highest euthanized animals to come into shelters due to the amount of work they require, and the lack of resources many of shelters have on hand. Luckily, the Dumb Friends League does not euthanize these babies because we have such an incredible community of foster parents who take them in. But learning that information was really shocking to me.
What do you do when you’re not volunteering at the League?
I am a mom of two very busy girls in addition to being a full-time student. I quit my job in May to dedicate all of my time on my studies and my family. If I’m not running my kids to after-school activities or dashing off to class myself, I’m probably out trapping cats for strangers!
Anything else you’d like to share?
Fostering has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it has also been one of the most rewarding. I have met incredible people through this process, and I feel a true sense of giving back to my community through fostering. When COVID initially shut down the world, I decided to start posting about my foster kittens on my personal Facebook page to give people something positive to focus on. Within the first few weeks, I received an abundance of messages from people supporting what I do and reaching out because they wanted to tell me that I inspired them to start fostering themselves! Since my birthday was right around the corner, I had an idea. I asked all of my friends and family to donate to my GoFundMe page in hopes of purchasing an incubator. Within two days, the entire thing was paid for, and it has saved countless little lives since. I could not have done it without all the support I was receiving and all the support I get from our community at the Dumb Friends League! I feel so lucky to be a part of such a supportive and loving community!