Berkeley Humane Blog: Volunteer Party!!!

For one very special evening, the normally dreary BEBHS warehouse was transformed into a fun party space embellished with festive balloons, decorated tables with platters of delicious appetizers, and homemade cookies galore. On Saturday December 1^st, BEBHS had its first annual Volunteer Appreciation Party in recognition of its nearly 200 active volunteers.

A room full of wonderful volunteers! Just doesn't get any better!!

Homemade goodies!

It is estimated that the work of these dedicated volunteers amounted to 3,900 hours of labor from March 2012 through November of 2012, alone. These hours of labor is equivalent to a monetary value of over $93,000! That is a huge amount of money, especially for a non-profit organization like us where every penny matters.

Cristina Verduzco, Volunteer Coordinator; and Corinne Lamata, Executive Director

The real star of the night was Cristina Verduzco who, as volunteer manager for less than a year, was able to transform a completely stalled program into the thriving group of volunteers it is now. Verduzco came into the organization with the goal of seeing which areas needed the most help and deploying volunteers to help tackle those needs. Rosa Enriquez also deserves a shout-out for her stellar work with the foster program. There is a variety of ways in which the people in the volunteer pool help: anything from fostering cats, construction tasks, walking dogs to computer repair.

Corinne Lamata, Executive Director, welcomes our wonderful volunteers!

The mood of the party was definitely a cheerful one. As guests nibbled on various treats, eyes seemed to be transfixed on the photo slideshow that was being projected on the wall. The adorable faces of current and past BEBHS feline and canine residents reminded everyone exactly why the staff and volunteers do what they do-- it's all for the animals.

We want to take this chance to reiterate how much we appreciate our volunteers. This party was the least we could do to show our volunteers what they mean to us. Thank you BEBHS volunteers for being so dedicated to the mission of our organization, we salute you!