CRAN News
Volunteer of the Month – December 2022
Congratulations to Patti Hansen, our December 2022 Volunteer of the Month!
Patti started volunteering initially doing medical record data entry and then as a cat socializer at Petsmart in 2021. This evolved into taking on the responsibilities of CRAN Cattery Manager at the South Petsmart cattery. Not only is Patti a cattery volunteer and cattery manager, she also finalizes adoption and continues diligently working in the background, helping with CRAN kitty medical records. Patti started volunteering after she retired “I retired at the end of June, 2021 and I knew I wanted to do volunteer work. I have been a passionate cat lover all my life so I did some searching on the Internet for cat organizations and found CRAN. The rest, as they say, is history.” When asked what she most enjoys about her volunteering, Patti replied “Well of course my love of kitties is what initially brought me to CRAN, but I also love that I have met so many wonderful people – other CRAN volunteers, adopters, fosters, PetSmart staff, visitors to the cattery. And I especially appreciate our socializing volunteer team at the PetSmart in south Eugene – they are AWESOME!”
Patti is a dedicated, multitasking volunteer with a love for animals, and a great love and compassion for our CRAN kittens and cats. Thank you for all you do for the cats Patti!
Volunteers of the Month – November 2022
CRAN’s November volunteers of the month are Eva LeMar, Andrew Fridlund and Nathaniel Fridlund!
Eva, Andrew and Nathaniel adopted 2 kitties from CRAN in 2019. They started volunteering in the spring of 2020, first as fosters, followed by a wide variety of responsibilities! They have fostered, volunteered in the Petsmart catteries, helped with medical records, assisted with garage sale set up and clean up, transported supplies and/or foster cats, and in many other ways. Eva said they started volunteering with CRAN because they love cats, and wanted to help.
Thank you, Eva, Andrew and Nathaniel, for helping to care for the CRAN kitties, and support the rescue-care-adoption process!
Volunteer of the Month October 2022
Congratulations to October’s Volunteer of the Month Elise L’Estrange!
Elise joined CRAN in October 2021 as a foster volunteer. Since that time, she has taken on the responsibilities of a medical volunteer, which includes basic exams of foster kitties, and vaccination boosters.
We asked Elise what brought her to CRAN and what she likes about volunteering “What I enjoy the most about volunteering for CRAN is the joy that being around and holding kittens brings me and being able to put my previous veterinary technology education and experience to use. I really do miss working in the veterinary field and this provides me a good outlet for that. I also love all the new friends I’ve made through CRAN. There truly are so many people pouring their hearts into this organization.
I first heard of CRAN on the local lost & found and missing pet groups on FaceBook. People were constantly telling others to reach out to CRAN or to a couple other rescues regarding their lost cats. I had volunteered at Greenhill for a few weeks years ago, but my back issues made it difficult so I stopped. Around September 2021 I saw another comment recommending someone to reach out to CRAN and mentioned that medical volunteers were needed at that time. I was still in a “bluh” mental state from the pandemic and still getting used to going back to work after a year and a half of isolating at home, but I felt like this was something I had to do. So, I looked at the website, confirmed that volunteers with medical experience were sorely needed, and sent in a volunteer application. From my first time at the TLC facility I was impressed by how well the cats were treated and how passionate everybody was. In this kind of environment, it’s been easy to stick with it and give as much of my time to CRAN as I can.”
Thank you for all you do for CRAN Elise!
Volunteer of the Month – September 2022
Colleen Ramey
Colleen became a WCDC/CRAN Volunteer in 2017 , and has been a lifesaver, literally. Colleen initially started as a volunteer at our Petco Cattery but soon found her niche with bottle babies. Colleen is fearless and determined when it comes to saving the lives of the tiniest, most vulnerable kittens who come into rescue, some only a few days or a few hours old. She has brought knowledge and insight into treating the illnesses and special needs of these tiny babies. Colleen also helps with medical care of other foster kittens, offering advice and mentoring several fosters.
Thank you for helping CRAN’s most fragile kittens Colleen!
Volunteer of the Month – August 2022
Congratulations to Vanessa Naldrett, our August Volunteer of the Month!
Vanessa became a CRAN foster in April 2020, during the first part of the COVID pandemic. She has fostered kittens and cats of all varieties — young kittens, older cats, special needs kitties, and provided them with a safe, loving home while they are waiting for their forever home.
Additionally, Vanessa is one of CRAN’s behind-the-scenes volunteers, keeping entries up to date in Rescue Groups, so that potential adopters can meet and learn more about CRAN kitties.
From Vanessa: “Let’s see, what would I like to add… what brought me to CRAN was my love of and desire to help kitties in need. My cat, Mimi, was very sick at that time and I had been making the plans to put her down, and I think my heart couldn’t quite handle the transition, so I began to foster in the months before she crossed over. I have so far had one foster failure, Twilight Princess Zelda, otherwise known as Mama, who I adopted from CRAN after Mimi left me. I also am at TLC on Saturdays doing cleaning/cat care as well as a volunteer.”
Thank you for all you do Vanessa!
Volunteer of the Month – July 2022
Congratulations to Sarah Selland, our July Volunteer of the Month! Sarah first became part of the CRAN family in 2019 when she adopted a CRAN kitty. Sadly, the kitten, Dolly, she adopted passed away suddenly from a blood clot. Sarah became a CRAN foster in 2020. She also started volunteering with the TLC crew that spring. Sarah fosters happy cats, sad cats, scaredy cats. And she shows up without fail at CRAN’s TLC, to scoop litter boxes, feed cats, and provide loving care to any kitty in the building. Sarah is also a CRAN adopter. She adopted Wellington shortly after Dolly passed and recently adopted Ravenclaw after fostering him for a few months. Thank you, Sarah, for all you do!
Volunteer of the Month – June 2022
Congratulations to Amanda Bugarovich, our June Volunteer of the Month. Amanda, who is a foster volunteer, is also a practicing veterinarian in our community. Amanda takes on special needs kittens and bottle babies, and in her veterinary practice, she is always willing to have a look at our sick cats and kittens and provide medical care for them. Amanda, as a volunteer, has given up Saturdays to do rabies vaccine clinics for our cats.
Thank you, Amanda for all you do!
Volunteer of the Month – May 2022
Casey McNabb
Casey started volunteering as a CRAN foster in 2018. Since then, she has fostered a variety of kitties in a variety of situations: pregnant cats plus their tiny arrivals, kittens without mamas, scaredy cats needing extra loving attention, sick and delicate kitties. Through all the foster ups and downs, Casey has been a compassionate, reliable, caring foster for many CRAN kitties on their way to their forever home.
From Casey:
I came to CRAN because I wanted to help with kittens and mamas. My friend had been working with another cat rescuer and she referred me to CRAN. I had tried fostering puppies a few times for Wiggly Tails, but I’m really a cat girl. I am honored and so proud to be a CRAN foster mom.
Thank you Casey for all your work to help CRAN cats!
April 2022 Volunteer of the Month: Lisa Cassidy
Congratulations to Lisa Cassidy, CRAN’s Volunteer of the Month for April 2022!
Lisa originally started volunteering when we were West Coast Dog and Cat Rescue in 2016, helping with photos and marketing.
She has done photography AND videography for the WCDC and CRAN kitties for several years, helping our adoptable kitties present their best selves to the public.
Lisa has also helped with multiple behind the scenes tasks – scheduling photo sessions, editing photos and videos, and assisting with software.
Since the end of 2020, Lisa has worked with Lyllian on the Monthly Adoptions report, tracking all adoptions in any given month, organizing photos of the adopted kitties, and providing all of this information for monthly adoption statistics.
Lisa also audits the statistics, to make sure no one is left out.
Her work is invaluable to CRAN, making her a great nominee for Volunteer of the Month.
Thank you, Lisa!
March 2022 Volunteer of the Month: Sandy Hafdahl
Sandy started volunteering in August 2020, behind the scenes first by editing cat pictures, then recording status updates of various cats and kittens, and now she is the cat promotion lead, bringing our CRAN kitties to the attention of the adopting public, on their way to their forever homes. From Sandy about her experience with volunteering: “I became aware of CRAN when it was West Coast Dog & Cat Rescue. I have been a friend of Louanne’s forever and at the time I was working for her when she started fostering cats. I would get to know some of the cats she was fostering while I was at work. Some of them were very talkative and cute so I would have to visit them. I had been retired for a while when Louanne asked if I wanted to help with cat photos. I said yes. I really like being able to help behind the scenes getting photos and bios up on the website and it makes me feel good when I see the cats are finding homes”.
Thank you Sandy for all you are doing to help CRAN cats!