Volunteers also do the work of keeping the shelter going so that the animals have a safe place to live where they are treated with love and compassion, and a qualified staff to assure that adoptions and rehoming decisions are made based on good sound judgment and the right animals go to the right homes.
The old saying “it takes a village” applies here, and to all animal rescue organizations. You occasionally see a one person rescue, but even that one person relies on the assistance, whether financial or physical, of others to help care for animals who are abandoned, injured or lost.
Houlton Humane Society is a 501c3 non profit governed by a set of bylaws and currently those bylaws allow nine board members and an open unlimited membership.
This fall we will be embarking on a membership drive to invite you to join us in our work, but you can become a member any time. It has been a couple of years since there has been a “drive” to encourage membership. I can remember marathon sessions at a board member’s houses in the past where a half dozen of us gathered to stuff envelopes and mail them out to local residents, explaining what Houlton Humane does and inviting members to join. We want to do that again. We want to do that soon.
In the meantime, our nine member board has been full up until recently and now we have two board openings and one candidate. So we are asking if there are any of you out there who might be interested in becoming a member of the board of directors, would you please contact the shelter at 532-2862 and leave your name and number, or call me at work at 532-2345 or email me at scruffydogsmom@gmail.com.
The current board will be having a workshop meeting on Aug. 24 and then announce the date of our next public meeting. We would like all interested parties to attend the next public meeting so that the board may meet you and you may meet the board. If there are several candidates then the board will vote. There is a possibility that during these workshops the by-laws may be amended to allow more board members.
From the board, the officers are elected and you should know that we will be having a public election of officers in October. That is when the official annual meeting is held and it is our hope to not only have a meeting but to have a huge public supper, where we can take a few minutes to get to know you, have some time to thank our volunteers, maybe do a silent auction. We may have that supper after elections or have the elections during the supper, those details haven’t been worked out yet but there is growing excitement about the opportunity to get together with you and share what has been happening this past year.
Houlton Humane has faced many challenges head on this year and you have been there to cheer us on and help us survive. We want to thank you and invite you to join us moving forward as we work diligently to improve each and every day.
