Whenever you consider volunteering at an animal shelter, your first thought could also be of all of the lovable puppies and kittens you’ll meet, and the animals you’ll fall in love with. However Brewster volunteer Steve Chapman can inform you there’s a lot extra to volunteering at ARL than what meets the attention.
After 26 years in high-level Regulation Enforcement, Steve Chapman and his spouse Gail relocated to The Cape in 2006. After a number of years of planting their roots of their new house, Steve and Gail determined they had been prepared so as to add a four-legged pal to their household. “There’s nothing higher than seeing that comfortable face within the window once you come house to a canine,” Steve says. So, they got here to the ARL’s Brewster Animal Care and Adoption Heart, the place they met and adopted a candy Labrador Retriever, Zoey.
From there, Steve’s reference to ARL solely grew stronger. Retirement acquired previous shortly for Steve, so when searching for out methods to meaningfully spend his time, he determined to begin volunteering at ARL. Upon the beginning of his volunteer journey, Steve realized that enjoying with the kittens and puppies, though enjoyable, will not be what was most wanted. With a small variety of employees members and volunteers on the Brewster location, Steve grew to become the go-to man for serving to with varied upkeep initiatives across the campus. Right now, he’s affectionately often called the MacGuyver of Brewster. Should you go to the shelter, you’ll be able to most likely discover Steve swapping gentle bulbs, or fixing kennel doorways, or lifting and transferring meals, or actually simply doing something that’s wanted across the shelter! Whereas there are considerable alternatives to work with the animals, we’re so grateful to Steve’s dedication in serving to us with a few of the much less glamorous components of working an animal shelter.
Along with his integral function as Brewster’s fix-it man, Steve has additionally grow to be somebody that each the employees and volunteers can go to for help. Working and volunteering may be an emotionally daunting endeavor, and Steve is all the time there to supply a listening ear, and supporting phrases. His expertise in regulation enforcement helped him develop excessive emotional resiliency and the power to stay logical in powerful conditions. However that doesn’t imply the powerful tales don’t have an effect on him. The truth is, one in all Steve’s earliest reminiscences involving animals was standing as much as a neighborhood bully who was being tough with a neighborhood cat. At a younger age, Steve realized the significance of standing up for what’s proper – even whether it is troublesome to do.
Steve’s energy, composure, and heat makes him an amazing useful resource for our employees and volunteers. Steve is a kind of those who makes you comfy sufficient to share your issues with, even inside hours of assembly him. Steve recollects a few of his finest reminiscences at ARL as ones when he acquired the prospect to attach with individuals on a deeper stage.
“Everybody has a narrative”, Steve says. And whether or not that story belongs to a employees member, volunteer, or shelter animal, Steve is there to supply his help. We’re so grateful to Steve for being an unwavering champion for animals and the individuals who love them.