Lisa began volunteering with Furry Friends in November 2022 after noticing a post on a friend’s Facebook page.

After taking early retirement (she worked for a food manufacturing company, Ventura Foods, for 31 years, latterly as a Regional Sales Manager), she was looking for a volunteer opportunity, and since she loves cats, it worked out purr-fectly.

She volunteers for two hours on the Tuesday night shift and likes to switch around, doing different rooms each time. When she’s finished with her room/rooms, she checks to see if anyone else needs help. Not only does their shift always work as a team to help each other out, they enjoy visiting with all of the cats no matter which room they’ve chosen to clean.

Lisa’s biggest challenge is leaving each week and worrying about the cats, especially the ones who are sick. She can’t wait to return the next week and see how they are. Her favorite part about volunteering is meeting all of the new cats and being able to form a bond with them until they find their fur-ever homes.

Her proudest moment as a volunteer was being there the night a cat named Oscar was adopted. He was such a favorite of everyone, and they were all worried that it was going to take a long time for him to find his special people. And although the entire Tuesday shift cried that night, knowing how much they would miss him, they were so, so happy for him.

While they currently have no pets at home, Lisa’s confident that they’ll adopt from the Halfway House at some point. Their first cat, Sneakers, passed away in 2002 at the age of 13 and their second cat, Boo, passed away in 2020 at the age of 14. Boo had diabetes for the last few years of her life, so Lisa’s familiar with twice-daily insulin injections. She found it very interesting to see how well Boo adapted to having the injections. Cats, she says, are awesome!

Passionate about the issue of homeless pets, she’s also been a member of their local Moose Lodge #1891, East Portland for several years (she volunteer cooks and serves meals), and supports Gung Ho Ministries/ GHM Boutique in Beaverton, a nonprofit that supports local veterans in need. She regularly donates and collects clothing for them to be sold in the boutique.

Besides volunteering, Lisa loves cooking, crocheting and gardening. And she sends a joyful shout-out to her AMAZING Tuesday night shift: Sandra, Caroline, Kana, Jessica and Amy. “Not only are they great to work with, but they’ve also become my friends. I look forward to my shift each week.”

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Furry Friends Volunteer Spotlights are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.