TCR Celebrates our Volunteers

Cambridge Pet Smart Volunteers

In the Kitchener-Waterloo area, the primary source for adoptions is the placement of cats in the three local PetSmart stores.  The volunteers who care for the cats in these stores have been amazing through the pandemic.

The Cambridge store was the first to open after both lockdowns and volunteers stepped up to the task of cleaning and preparing the room to reopen both times. This store does present a unique challenge, as the adoption area is a room which has cages that do not face the window that is open to the store. The volunteers quickly had to figure out a way to rearrange the cages in the room so that cats were visible without the public being able to come into the adoption room due to Covid-19 safety protocols.  After the first shut down we lost about half of our store volunteers, but the volunteers who did decide to stay with TCR rose to the challenge and covered more than one shift, to ensure the store could stay open for adoptions and the cats were well cared for. They had to work through new adoption procedures, room procedures and safety procedures, but they did it with a smile. 

The volunteers have a great camaraderie and communicate via a group chat where they love sharing stories, photos and videos of the cats at the store. Some have even fallen in love with cats at the store and have adopted them. This store is blessed with a dedicated group of amazing volunteers who always help out when needed, whether it’s to cover shifts, assist in special events like national adoption weekends, and buying supplies for the room like toys, treats and cat trees.  Because of them the store is able to care for up to 12 cages of cats at a time and adopted out over 300 cats last year, in a pandemic that had 2 shutdowns.

Thank you to PetSmart Cambridge store volunteers: Nicole, Mady, Alison, Gillian, Veronica, Barb, Sheryl, Arina, Caroline, Nicky, Deborah, Janice & Lauren.  Store Coordinator: Kerstin