This month we celebrate the entire Pick family each logging over 1,500 hours for PAWS. We asked Tonya, David, and David Jr. to answer some questions about their time with PAWS.
How long have you been at PAWS?
The Picks began volunteering in March 2013. Originally, we visited PAWS to meet the dogs; however, we ran into a good friend who is an Adoption Counselor on the Cat-side. She invited us to tour the Cat-side, and within a week, we had signed up for the Volunteer Training sessions. To this day, we still love being able to help PAWS as it gives great care to the cats (and dogs) who pass through the system. Originally, we tried out a couple different shifts, but quickly decided that the Friday-night shift would be our permanent home. That was 5 years ago.
Oh, and by the way, we did meet and adopt our dog back in March 2013. “Tipper” is a beagle. His three favorite things in life are napping, napping and napping.
What's your favorite thing about PAWS?
The animals are the first and foremost priority for all of the staff and volunteers at PAWS. While everyone has their own persona, we are all at PAWS to care for the animals, to see to their daily needs and to help them find their forever homes. In fact, the younger David appreciates PAWS dedication to the animals so much that he did his BSA Eagle Scout project at PAWS. He built the colorful towers in the Falk and Sunshine Spa rooms and made the elevated cage beds located in various places around the Cat side.
What's your favorite thing to do at PAWS?
We enjoy all our work with PAWS. We are trained for Core Shift-work, Floor Volunteering, Shift leadership, Pet Partnering, and Fostering. Because we work from home, we have a somewhat unique ability to work with cats that need a more consistent level of socializing with humans or other cats, cats that need some special medical monitoring, or even just cats that need time to “come out of their shell”. Some of our extra-curricular PAWS activities include work on the “Cat Line”, helping with long-term adoption follow-ups, and assisting with the PAWS Yard Sale.
Where are you from?
The Picks are all from Pennsylvania. David is from Lycoming County, Tonya is from Indiana County. David and Tonya moved to Centre County in 1988, where David Neil was born in 1998.
Thank you to the entire Pick family for dedicating so much time to the PAWS animals!