Greetings Volunteers,
Thank you to the nearly 400 volunteers & fosters who participated in the Volunteer Program Assessment (VPA) survey in November! We so appreciate the time and thoughtfulness you put into the survey. We hear you and we’re working on some new ideas in response to your input. Stay tuned, more to come in 2026!
Shelter update: We currently have 248 animals in our collective care. 129 are at our Novato campus, including 26 dogs, 6 puppies, 53 cats, 9 kittens, 16 rabbits, 6 guinea pigs, 6 rodents, and 4 reptiles. Nine animals are in our Oakland office; 14 are at Kitty Corner and the Woodlands stores; and 96 are in foster homes! And last but not least, 69 animals were adopted in the past week!
Adoption update: Another week of adoptions in the books, another adorable slideshow, and another happy Wednesday! Thank you Hill’s Pet Nutrition for helping us waive adoption fees for a week so more families could bring pets home for the holidays! #adoptdontshop. And if you’d like more details on who went home, here’s the Adoption Report!
Hopalong happenings: This past Saturday, our usual dog adoption event had a fun twist! Hot Yoga Republic, a new yoga studio in Mill Valley, hosted a holiday pet adoption event to celebrate their opening. Marin Humane brought their RV full of felines, Hopalong brought the pups, and another rescue organization called Underdog Animal Rescue was present, too. We ended the day with many adoptions and it was a great chance to get in the holiday spirit. It was also the last mobile adoption event we’ll have at the Mill Valley Woodlands Pet Food & Treats location. Woodlands opened up a new store in Tiburon so please look out for us there next month. Thank you to Woodlands and Hot Yoga Republic for making this such a successful adoption event!
Compassion in action! Over the last three months, Addy, a former camper and student service school club student, cold-called several companies looking for donations for Marin Humane! Some of the places that Addy called include: Kong, Bark, Purina, Woodlands Pet Food & Treats, Petco, Playology, Nyla Bone, Cat Lady, Two Design, and Made to Roam. Addy is pictured here with just some of the amazing donations she secured for the shelter animals! And, she says that they are still expecting more! This was all Addy’s idea simply out of the goodness of her heart. Well done, Addy!
Volunteer High Five to Cris Welisch and Betsy McGee! “I want to give a huge Volunteer High Five to Behavior & Training volunteers Cris Welisch and Betsy McGee for their amazing work on QuickBooks this month! Cris and Betsy both help input all B&T transactions in QuickBooks. Recently, Cris kept QBKS updated throughout the month of November, which was super helpful as Betsy was on vacation for three weeks. Upon Betsy’s return, there was very little left to finish. That made everything run so smoothly! Betsy then jumped right in and completed the remaining transaction entries and provided the final reconciliation. Because of both of these wonderful volunteers, the month is closed early, and I can now get everything submitted to accounting next week. Such a relief! This is such a win and a perfect example of our Core Value of Collaborative Spirit in action. I honestly could not do my job without these two exceptional women. They make my work so much easier knowing I never have to worry about daily sale transactions being entered into QuickBooks. Thank you, Cris and Betsy, you’re purr-fect partners in teamwork! 🐾” ~ Bunny Lane, B&T Administrative Coordinator (pictured L-R are Bunny, Betsy, and Cris)
A few volunteers needed! Our Development department is planning a big mailing in January and they could use a few extra helping hands to put the mailing together. Are you free on on Thursday, January 15th at 10am to help us put together this mailing? Let me know at calexander@marinhumane.org and I’ll have snacks ready!
Tails of Marin: This week’s Tails of Marin article is penned by CEO Nancy McKenney. Nancy writes, “As I get older, I appreciate birthdays more. They mark time and provide a chance to reflect on one’s accomplishments over the past year. At Marin Humane, we’re approaching an important date, and it prompted a bit of reflection on how far the organization — and the field of animal welfare — has come over the past century. We’re also thinking about where we’re heading, given the challenges faced by animal organizations and by families with pets.” Read Nancy’s full piece here: “Celebrating Marin Humane and its impact on our community.”
Honor your love of animals! With a bequest to Marin Humane. Do you sometimes wish you were able to donate more generously to causes you care about? While you naturally want to ensure your loved ones are cared for, allocating even a small percent of your total estate to Marin Humane can result in a bigger donation than can be managed in a lifetime! And a benefit of a charitable bequest to Marin Humane is that it costs you nothing now, but enables you to support our transformative work, long after you’re gone. If you’d like to give Marin County’s animals a voice for generations to come by including us in your estate plan, please visit here or contact Nan Zimmerman at 415-506-6233 or at nzimmerman@marinhumane.org
Stay warm and have a great week!
Candace
