Carol P. - December 2019 Volunteer of the Month

Congratulations to Carol P., nominated and chosen as a December 2019 Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) Volunteer of the Month.

Learn more about the volunteer of the month program.

A Great Way to Help Animals and Meet People

A volunteer of fifteen years, Carol began volunteering shortly after retiring and moving to the area as a way to help animals, meet people, and orient herself to the community. Carol was invited to volunteer at MCAS by Marsha, her next-door neighbor, also featured for December 2019. She began walking dogs, helped transport animals to Cat Adoption Team, and eventually found that she liked doing laundry the best.

A Trailblazer

Carol has always been a trailblazer in life. In her career, Carol was the only woman on the floor as a forklift operator for a vertical turbine manufacturer. “It was hard in that industry,” Carol says, but “it was a good job to have if you didn’t have a college degree.” 

After retirement, Carol joined a regional hiking group, and began exploring Oregon and Washington with new friends. Ironically enough, her least favorite hike to date was Dog Mountain, on the Washington side of the gorge. Her favorite hikes and sights include Silver Falls, Rooster Rock, and the iconic covered bridges in the region.

Laundry Logistics

In the daily logistics of managing laundry at the shelter, the greatest lesson Carol has learned is patience. “As a team, a lot of people need to do their thing before you can do yours. At work, I always wanted things to move faster than they did, but I didn’t learn patience until my volunteer service.

One thing Carol enjoys about laundry is how simple and straightforward the job is. “It’s a big deal, and there’s so much of it! I feel bad when there aren’t volunteers scheduled to help. Beyond adoptions, I don’t think the public knows about the scale of what goes on behind the scenes.” 

Meeting Cyclops

While volunteers and staff go through the standard first-come, first-served adoption application and interview, and pay standard adoption and license fees, one perk of being a volunteer is getting to know the animals- sometimes before they’re available for adoption.

When Carol met Cyclops (Cy), a one-eyed Chihuahua who was recovering from a broken leg, she knew she wanted to adopt him. Cy was in foster care with Emory E., and would come in regularly for treatment at the shelter’s animal hospital- right next to laundry volunteers, where Carol could visit with him on the way out. The day Cy was recovered and available for adoption, Carol made sure she was first in line for when the shelter opened. 

Now Carol gets to enjoy Cy’s antics every day. He has a lot of toys, but all he really cares about is his bed, which he carries in his mouth. It’s three-times his size, but he drags his bed all around the house, lays down, bites down on it again, clamps his jaws on and falls asleep wherever he ends up.

Carol knows that if she hadn’t volunteered, she wouldn’t have met Cy, or the many wonderful people who also volunteer at MCAS. “Everyone is great to me,” Carol says. “Everyone taught me something, and I don’t want to single anyone out.”

Thank you, Carol, for your dedicated, positive service for the people and pets of Multnomah County!

December 2019 Nominees

Thank you to our stellar volunteers nominated for the December 2019 Volunteer of the Month!

• Daphna A.
• Regina H.
• Ally R.
• Amanda T.