Lori Friend: Volunteer Spotlight

“I’ve been volunteering for more than six weeks now with Furry Friends at the shelter,” Lori says. “I heard about you from a friend of mine when I told her that I wanted to do some animal volunteering here in Vancouver, since my other volunteering is mainly at farm sanctuaries an hour and a half away.

“Needless to say, I love it so much! Not only is my Tuesday team awesome and my team lead Caroline the best, I truly enjoy my time there and look forward to my evening shift every week. Once I’m settled back at school -- I’m a Health room Nurse at a K-12 school – I hope to pick up more shifts if anyone needs subs.

“The shelter is, without a doubt, an absolutely amazing place. It’s so clean and so well organized, and all of the kittens and cats are so well cared for. They seem surprisingly relaxed and stress-free, making it clear that every volunteer is dedicated to making them feel as comfortable as possible.

“I previously had my own two fur babies, whose names were Kitten and Precious, and I was so grateful to have spent twenty years with them. Although I really miss having a cat around, I’m the ‘grandma’ to my daughters’ four cats. I do, however, have three adorable guinea pigs named Minnie, Moo Moo and Gus Gus, with an entire bedroom open for them. Being prey animals, it wouldn’t be fair if I had either a dog or a cat right now, so the next best thing is my time  spent volunteering at Furry Friends.

“I love giving back to the animals: they’re my passion. Being a vegan for the past eight years, throughout my journey, I’ve learned the beauty and love that all creatures, large and small, bring to our lives. My hope and dream is to one day have my own animal sanctuary where I can devote all of my time to making their lives better.”

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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.