Lisa Baxter is one of our long-time volunteers. She has been volunteering with Furry Friends since 2013 as our auction procurement lead. Her son, Austin, volunteered for us for his senior project and she was so impressed by the volunteers and the annual auction she jumped in with both feet. This volunteer position is quite the job gathering items for our big annual fall auction while keeping track of donors and coming up with ideas for future auctions.

Lisa is also an adopter. She adopted two kittens in fall of 2016 from one of our “C” litters. She named them Sam and Tucker. Tucker now lives with their son along with his golden retriever dog sister, Willow. When not helping with the auction she likes to camp, kayak, hike, sew, and crochet in her free time.

She says her proudest moments as a volunteer are when we break a fundraising goal for the auction. She said, “We take in kitties that most people rejected or would dump. I have heard of rescues that adopt out sick animals and I am so proud of Furry Friends and the way we take care of our cats and kittens. I know that the medical is our biggest expense and I am proud to be a part of the group that can directly affect that, by looking for donations and being a part of the annual auction.”

When asked if there was one thing you could say to the community about cat rescue work, what would it be, she said, “It is sometimes heartbreaking but rewarding work. I think the most important message is to have your pets spayed and neutered. Pets are not “disposable” if you can’t afford to keep a pet, pay for their food and care, then don’t get one. They are a life-long commitment, for THEIR life. Yes kittens are cute, but they grow up and become incredibly loving pets that NEED us to provide for them.”

Thank you Lisa for your dedication and hard work for Furry Friends!

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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 250 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. She also is our Executive Director and handles community outreach such as emails/voicemails and does the adoption and cat intake coordination as well as a number of other tasks including fundraising.