Karen Grafmyre has been a volunteer with Furry Friends since October 14th, 2020. She is the AM shift lead for our Wednesday shift at the shelter and she helps with voicemails. Her main duties are directing her team to ensure the cats and healthy and taken care of. This includes: feeding, socializing, cleaning areas, scooping litter pans, giving fresh water, laundry, and other tasks as assigned.
When asked how she got involved with Furry Friends she said, “I retired just as Covid hit (March 2020) and my plan after I retired was to volunteer at rescues/shelters. Because of Covid, no one was taking volunteers at that time. Just before October 2020, I discovered that Furry Friends was able to take new volunteers, so I applied. I had volunteered at the Montgomery County Humane Society in Maryland before I retired (we moved from Maryland to Washington in April 2020) and I really enjoyed helping with the cats at that shelter, so Furry Friends seemed like a perfect fit for me.”
Karen doesn’t have any kitties from Furry Friends but she does have two other rescue kitties and a dog. When she is not taking care of her animals and ours she is checking voicemails 4 times per week for us and then volunteering at the Cowlitz County Humane Society 2 mornings per week! She really has the heart for animals and volunteer work!
Her proudest moment as a volunteer was a seemingly simple task of checking a voicemail! This voicemail was from a vets office regarding a cat set to be euthanized by the owners. She quickly got the voicemail to the intake coordinator, Jenn, and this cat was brought to Furry Friends that same day! YAY Murphy! These calls are time sensitive that is why our voicemail & email team are extremely valuable.
If there is one thing she could say to the community about cat rescue work it’s this: “Knowing that I am helping cats get to their forever homes is one of the biggest rewards I can imagine. Each cat is special and deserves a chance at being loved and taken care of for the rest of their lives.”
Thank you Karen for all your hard work and dedication!
This spotlight was written by Jenn Hutchman