The Lori Kauffman Volunteer Of The Month Award

Sharon Roth is the recipient of the June 2008 Lori Kauffman Volunteer of the Month Award

Congratulations to our June Volunteer of the Month, Sharon Roth! Sharon has served GRRA in a variety of capacities including fostering dogs, assisting with adoption day, distributing adoption day reminders to the foster team, and delivering heartworm preventative and flea/tick medications to the foster team at adoption day.

Sharon was never around golden retrievers until about 14 years ago, and didn't understand how special they are until she spent two hours with one. Since then she has had several goldens and currently is mom to Koda, whom she adopted from GRRA three years ago.

Sharon's specialty is fostering dogs ages eight years old and older. She has fostered nine dogs and is currently fostering Red who is estimated to be between 10 and 12 years old. Sharon feels that fostering older dogs has taught her to be resilient and to move forward during tough times. Many of the dogs she has fostered came from puppy mills where they received very little socialization as they were used for breeding. Some of the dogs came from other less than ideal situations. Sharon treats the foster dogs just as she would a human guest in her home, feeding them quality food, teaching them basic commands, and helping them adjust to living inside a home. Some of the dogs have been well-behaved, and some haven't. Still, Sharon wants these dogs to have an experience similar to winning the lottery! Fostering has been a great experience for the whole family and has taught the family compassion for others.

Her favorite part of fostering dogs and volunteering for GRRA is helping to literally rescue dogs and learning what dogs can teach us. Sharon considers GRRA volunteers to be dog angels. She has enjoyed meeting other volunteers at GRRA and appreciates the great mentors in GRRA who helped her learn to foster dogs. Sharon feels that she has developed a skill that was lying dormant.

Sharon's most memorable experience fostering was when she fostered Buddy. When Buddy entered the program, his fur was so matted that it had to be completely shaved. When his hair finally began to grow back, it grew in clumps, making it look like a small child had cut his hair. Sharon fostered Buddy for three months until he was adopted by a family in Marietta. Despite his difficult start, Buddy essentially won the lottery when he was adopted. Sharon formed a close bond with Buddy, and it was difficult to let go of him.

What makes Sharon's nomination to be Volunteer of the Month so special is that she was nominated by her son, Perry. He and his brother have witnessed firsthand the passion Sharon has for helping dogs in need and her commitment to volunteer despite challenging work and school schedules. Congratulations, Sharon, on being June's Volunteer of the Month! Thank you for your hard work and commitment to GRRA and the dogs!!

Lori Kauffman, who passed away in 2007, was a GRRA™ volunteer who wanted to ensure that GRRA™ continued to do its valuable work. Lori wanted people to know, "Dogs are not disposable. Having a dog is a lifelong commitment. They are an equal part of the family".

If you are aware of a volunteer's efforts that exemplify what is needed to make our volunteer organization survive and thrive, please send a note to volunteer@grra.com. Monthly Nominations are due by the 17th of each month. Click here to see previous award winners.