By Jenn Hutchman
Debbie Baughman has volunteered with Furry Friends since August of 2017. She retired in 2016 and moved to Vancouver from Georgia. Wanting more to do in her down time and to get to know the area better she visited the Human Services Council in downtown Vancouver to find some volunteer opportunities. She saw Furry friends and knew that would be the purrfect fit.
When asked what she does for Furry friends she said, “I’m a telephone voicemail volunteer who answers messages folks leave for FF on Sundays. I find this very rewarding because I can actually reach out and help folks with problems in finding resources for lost kitties or trying to take in pregnant cats that heed help. It is very fulfilling at times; however, there are times that handling calls can be difficult. You have to keep your resources updated, and understand that sometimes folks are going through trying times. I also post Nomi Berger’s Cat Tales on The Columbian blog site (which is posted every second Sunday morning). I review the stories and find appropriate pictures on the web that will enhance the stories; then I upload the text and pictures to the Columbian blog site. It’s a fun job, and helps me keep my PC skills sharp.” Debbie has also helped with the Furry Friends auction when it was held in person. She spends a handful of hours each week on her volunteer duties.
Her favorite part of being a Furry friends volunteer is being part of the FF community and seeing how all the cats are doing during and after they have been in Furry Friends care.
She has two cats at home, a brother and sister pair, named Mason and Maggie who she adopted from a rescue in Georgia. She also likes to make jewelry and has started to learn how to make her own wine! When she isn’t helping the community with their kitties she is also volunteering at the North County Community Food Bank a couple of days a week. She helps take in donations, which includes logging in and bagging donated vegetables, etc., and helping log in donations from local companies who give to the Food Bank. She also helps in assembling boxes of food on carts that are wheeled out curbside to clients that can visit twice per month. She then helps log in the customers who visit, and ensure they receive the goods they need.
When asked why she gives back she responded, “I’ve worked hard to achieve my goals in life, but have also been very fortunate to have people help me along the way. I believe we all need to help each other out in whatever ways we can. Helping others brings me much satisfaction.”
Thank you Debbie for your continued volunteer work and support!
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We would like to thank Jenn Hutchman for writing this spotlight. She has been volunteering with Furry Friends for a couple years and has been an amazing contribution to our team. She has fostered over 50 cats and kittens so far for Furry Friends, and not just the easy ones. She has fostered several bottle baby kittens that require feeding every two hours and has taken on some of the difficult medical cases like Monnie. She also is the lead person for our email/voice mail team, plays a significant role on our medical team and has done a number of other tasks including fundraising. For 2020 she put in about 570 volunteer hours for Furry Friends. We are so grateful for all she does.