Hello <<First Name>>!
We have a month of hellos and goodbyes. We're saying goodbye to our students for the summer and offering a fond farewell to our graduating seniors. The dogs and cats will miss you!
Also we're saying goodbye to our Shelter Supervisor, Catherine. Her husband Josh, aka the Bingo Guy, is finishing up his PhD and they're moving back to Washington DC (where they're both from), to look for jobs. Before the fun of job hunting, they'll be spending three weeks in Japan. You can follow their adventure here: Catherine's Blog.
It's not all goodbyes as we welcome  Megan, the new Shelter Staff Assistant. She's not new to PAWS, but she will be working more directly with the volunteers, planning events, managing Volgistics accounts, etc. We had Megan answer the following questions:
When did you start volunteering at PAWS?
I started volunteering at the beginning of 2016.
What jobs/roles have you performed at PAWS?
I have volunteered for both dog care and cat care, including some shift leading on dog side. I occasionally help with dog floor volunteering, and I also send out scheduling requests for volunteers on cat side. Before being hired as Staff Assistant I worked as a Kennel Assistant a few days a week.
Why did you start to volunteer at PAWS?
I have always loved working with all kinds of animals, and now I found myself in one place for long enough to actually get involved with a shelter.
When you're not a PAWS, what do you like to do with your time?
I love to knit (and do lots of other crafty things), read, hike with my husband, take care of our garden, and spoil our three cats with lots of love and attention!
What do you like best about being at PAWS? What do you find to be the most rewarding?
I love being able to provide help to more animals than I would ever be able to do on my own. A person can only take in so many pets before things start to get crowded, but by helping at PAWS I get to still be involved in the process of providing for animals and finding them a home. I also LOVE being able to share my passion for helping animals with other volunteers and staff who feel the same way. PAWS provides a great community for both the animals and the people who care for them. It is so rewarding to see the progress our PAWS cats and dogs make on their way to their forever homes.
I hope you enjoy this month's Volunteer Newsletter!
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Volunteer of the Month!
This Month's Volunteer of the Month is Ginger a cat volunteer and foster. Congratulations Ginger! Check out the blog to learn more about Ginger here: https://goo.gl/Mtz2ob
The Volunteer of the Month gets a blog feature on our website and their very own parking space! The Volunteer of the Month can be anyone who logged hours during the previous month or a volunteer who has logged more than 4,000 hours. The volunteer will be contacted via email. If a youth volunteer wins, their parent or guardian will be able to use the parking space. Make sure to log your hours!
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Mark Your Calendars:
Summer Fire Pit Nights
Come out Friday, May 12th for our first Fire Pit of the season. Fire will be lit at 7:30 PM. Come make S'mores and meet other volunteers. Feel free to bring other snacks or beverages!
Can't make it to this Fire Pit? We have more scheduled! Weather pending, the dates are:
Friday, Mat 26
Friday, June 9
Friday, June 30
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Support PAWS during Centre Gives
Centre County PAWS will be participating in Centre Gives again this year. Centre Gives is a 36-hour online fundraising event hosted by Centre Foundation. This year's event will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 9 and end at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 10. When you donate during Centre Gives, your money goes even further and stays in our local community!
4th Annual Centre Gives Yappy Hour
5:30–7:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 9
PAWS basement meeting room
1401 Trout Road, State College
Join us for our food, wine, and fun at our Yappy Hour during Centre Gives while we try to win the $500 Dinner Time Prize! The prize is awarded to the organization that has the most unique donors from 6–7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9. Your generous support helped PAWS win the prize the past three years in a row and we had a blast with all of our supporters in the process!
There is no cost to attend but donations to PAWS through Centre Gives are suggested. Computers will be available to anyone who wishes to donate. If you can’t join us, please consider donating from wherever you are at during the event!
#CentreGives Social Media “Street Team”
Want to help PAWS during Centre Gives just by using social media? You can be part of our Social Media “Street Team” and be entered for a chance to win prizes!
You can be part of the team by doing one or more of the following beginning on May 9 at 8 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m. on May 10.
 1. Create a post on your Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram account about why you’re supporting PAWS during #CentreGives. You could talk about your favorite PAWS animal and include a photo, the reason why you volunteer, etc! Include a link to our Centre Gives page at https://centregives.org/organizations/47 and the hash tags #CentreGives and #CentreGives2PAWS
Example: “I’m a proud Centre County PAWS volunteer and I'm supporting them during #CentreGives because we helped 337 dogs and 512 cats find wonderful forever homes last year. #CentreGives2PAWS https://centregives.org/organizations/47”
2. Share/Retweet/Regram our #CentreGives posts from our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts with your followers! Be sure to add your own comments to your post when you share and include the hashtag #CentreGives2PAWS when you do.
Every post made that includes the hashtag #CentreGives2PAWS will be counted as an entry to win one of the prizes above. Please be sure that your privacy settings on the Centre Gives posts are set to public so we can see the posts to count them. If you do not wish to make the posts public, please send us a screenshot of your post(s) including the hashtag. Winners will be drawn on after our volunteers have a chance to count all public entries and screenshots we are sent.
Thank you for your support in helping us spread the word about supporting PAWS during Centre Gives. Every share and post helps us raise more money for the cats and dogs!
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Dog Updates
We wanted to share a couple of stories about two of our PAWS dogs. Xena was having a hard time adjusting at the shelter. She went to foster and is now doing great. Also, when Hibiscus came to PAWS she had no strength in her back right leg. She's been going to physical therapy and is now building muscle in her leg.
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Xena in Foster
We have had Xena for about 6 weeks now and every day she comes a bit more out of her shell. Her personality is bright, happy, and filled with so much love. She wants to be with her human friends at all times and give as many kisses as possible.
We have been working with her on click training and while she shows interest in other dogs, we have had success with using the clicker and treats to get her to move along. During Easter weekend we took her on a road trip to visit with family. We even had success walking her on a mile trail with my Dad and his husky mix Max (another rescue from Centre County). Xena did great. While at first she was curious about Max, as we started walking she didn't mind that he was along for the walk. By the end - the two were able to sit relatively close to each other with only smiles on their faces.
Xena is a bit oblivious about her size and so we are working with her to recognize that she is a bit big for a lap dog. Overall, she is responding really well to training and we think her sole mission in life is to make her humans happy. She is a great friend and would be the perfect companion to anyone willing to continue her training, give her lots of cuddles, and be patient as she continues to get used to life in a home.
Hibiscus in Therapy
Hibiscus has been going to physical therapy since March 28. In a session, she is given laser therapy which helps stimulate the muscles, increases blood flow and decreases inflammation. Then Hibicus does different exercises to strengthen her leg muscles. One exercise she does is balancing on a "core" peanut. It is a large, inflated "ball" in the shape of a peanut. She balances on it as the therapist rocks it back and forth. Another "exercise she does is to crawl under and over "limbo" bars. She is also walked up and down steep inclines. When she first started therapy, Hibiscus did not put her foot down at all. The therapist feels that Hibiscus now has it down about 90% of the time. Even when walking at PAWS she puts her leg down most of the time!
She is such a good patient! Even when she is scared, she is constantly giving kisses!
Click on the image below for a video!
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We met our new best friend in April!
25 cats were successfully adopted in April, bringing the year total to 135 placements
26 dogs were successfully adopted in April, bringing the year total to 101 placements
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Brian and I would just like to say thank you for letting us give Emmie aka Silver her new forever home. She's only been with us two days but we already realize how special she is...such a little cuddle bug!!
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Remus (formerly Paul McCartney) with his big brother, Galileo (left) 
Thank you, PAWS for helping animals find a home 
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Love following up on our furry friends? Lots of our adopters check back in and while we can't post them all here, we post them on our Facebook. Check out the Happy Endings photo album on Facebook here: (https://www.facebook.com/CentreCountyPAWS/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1005665976141939).
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- Jillian Jaffe
- Melody Sharp
- Luke Clendenen
- Laura Van Velsor
- Rebecca Silverman
- Christina Snook
- Rahul Gupta
- David Pick
- Kate Guastaferro
- Louise Fabbri
- Yukie Kushibiki
- Cody Patchell
- Tess Crossen
- Xiaoran Sun
- Helene Monthley
- Claire Bingaman
- Justine Hauser
- George Chaplin
- Sophia Tornatore
- Natasha Schlaffer
- Jim Hermann
- Catie Montgomery
- Kayla Swope
- Chris Walters
- Tyler Gayan
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- Michael Warner
- Jennifer Fredericks
- Allison Scott
- Ellen O'Neill
- Mary Nasatka
- Allie Sheetz
- Marikaye Clark
- Hannah Rauh
- Ryan Macaluso
- Donna Ly
- Cindy Petrick
- Laurie Walters
- Steve Clayton
- Katherine Adams
- Harley Baker
- Matthew Satzler
- Rachael McDonald
- Lua Lopez Perez
- Robin Bang
- Joshua Kaewvichien
- Maria Capule
- Betty Stanford
- Julia Mitchell
- Cassie Marker
- Regina Sellers
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Follow Us!
Check us out on social media to get all the latest news, photos, happy ending stories from our PAWS alumni, and more!
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How are we doing?
We appreciate you taking a moment to complete a survey to provide your feedback!
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