More Friends, More Fun!

We’ve made some new friends over the past year, and want to share our stories (and pictures) with you. It is a great experience for the dogs when groups of volunteers come for the day, bringing fun, pets and goodies.

Students from Commonwealth-Parkville School have always come to our Saturday Clean-ups and given of their time to make sure the pups have clean crates for the week. But we were thrilled to learn that student Natasha San Miguel had organized a casual day with all proceeds were donated to ADLA. “Wear Blue for the Animal Lover in You” took place March 2, 2018 That day, students could forgo their uniform and instead wear blue in support of animal rescue. 

Another school we have grown close to over the past years is Saint John’s School. These students have also been a big help on Saturdays. Some have even chosen to become parents and take an ADLA dog home with them for good.

The Community Service Club of Saint John’s is student-run and provides opportunities for young people to work together in the service of different causes. For the first semester of the school year, the club elected ADLA as their cause of choice. Throughout the semester, the students organized different initiatives to get the word out there (rescue, foster, adopt… don’t shop). They organized fundraisers for our benefit, including: a bake sale, a movie night, a Halloween Party, and, for the gran finale: a fashion show featuring the dogs!   

And when it comes to getting hands-on with the dogs, students from EDIC College Veterinary Assistant Program are superstars! They come regularly to do check-ups, help deparasite, bathe and groom the dogs.

Here is a clip of Allison– still at the shelter and awaiting her big adoption day– getting a bath and check-up from two of the students.

We recently blogged about the University of Puerto Rico’s animal welfare club Patita Amiga, and their commitment to improving the quality of life of our dogs with regular walks, as well as donating food and supplies. Who we haven’t mentioned are the Jaguares from the university’s Carolina campus, and students from the university’s School of Medicine.

Become a volunteer

You might now know that we are starting to schedule regular beach clean-ups. So, we were thrilled when the leadership and camaraderie-building group Creando Contigo with Coach JoAiris not only sign up and helped clean Piñones Beach, but also walked dogs and donated supplies. A full and fun day!

And who could we count on to come ready to work? Volunteer teams from Americorps NCCC are ready and willing to come regularly on Saturday for our clean-ups. With their help, the dogs crates smell nice and clean for the week. Teams also took part in the Shelter Rebuild by painting the interior of the shelter. Thanks guys!

Finally, we were so excited when volunteer Yathzary Albizu approached us with her plan to get a group of university-aged dog lovers together to come and walk the dogs, as well as donate supplies for the shelter. Yathzary’s group visited us December 18th. She had some getting-to-know-you games prepared, brought snacks, the dogs were walked, and received lots of donated goodies. Thank you Yathzary and friends!

We know we have many volunteers come by and do not always get the chance to document the fun with pictures and videos. So, send us yours!

And, if you aren’t volunteering yet, what are you waiting for? Fill out a volunteer application today!