Zaras List

I started volunteering for Zara's List in mid February of 2003 at the age of eighteen and have been with them ever since. This is my first volunteering experience and I am enjoying every minute of it! You can usually see me taking care of adoptions at our adoption location and helping people with questions about the animals. Aside from helping with the adoptions, I like to do some of the artsy things for the rescue; such as making posters and flyers, to help spread the word about where we are doing adoptions. I've also recently taken on website duties. If there're changes to make on this website, I'm typically the one making those changes. Thanks to my mom for working through some tough things to get the new layout up and running though!

How did it all start for me you ask? Well, there are always stray cats wandering around our patio wanting attention from one of my cats. One particular cat would constantly show up at our patio wanting attention and one day my family and I spotted him in the local pet store. By that time we gave him a nickname, "BG" (Big Guy). One Saturday evening I was driving around with my mom and I asked if I could go see "BG." I walked in the store and was bombarded with dogs and cats. After visiting "BG," I decided to look at the other animals. I saw this cute lab mix in its cage with a sign saying the rescue needed volunteers. Without hesitation I walked up to the desk and signed up. A week later I received a call from a volunteer and started that weekend.

I recently graduated from high school with high honors and am currently taking General Ed. classes at a local community college. I hope to transfer to a 4-year college afterwards, and become a pharmacist or podiatrist. Besides school and volunteering with Zara's List, I enjoy spending time with my two cats. Lexi, a calico, who is almost 14 years old and is the chatterbox of the two. My brother found her wandering the streets in front of our house almost 12 years ago, and he brought her in and we've had her ever since. Tippy, a.k.a "Miss Princess" or "Techno Kitty", the younger of the bunch is almost 7. I got her from my best friend in junior high when she was 2 months old. She fills my family's life with endless amounts of laughter, from racing with a bag around her neck like a cape and racing down the hall, to 'helping the printer' by taking papers out.

I can't forget my other loves. 2001 was an unfortunate year for our family because we lost 3 of our pets due to old age. Orky, who we had since before I was born, was found at my dad's work when he was just 2 days old. His mother was wild; she pushed him and his brother off the roof of the building. My dad found them and brought them home to my mother who is a nurse and she nursed them both back to health. We had Orky for almost 20 years. Garfield was an orange tabby who was just a big (and I do mean big!!!) cuddle bug. He was yet another stray that we ended up saving. Nikita (aka Nikki), our Golden Retriever, passed away at 16 due to cancer. She was definitely a wonderful dog. She was so kind and would always be with my dad as he worked on the truck or built something in the garage. We will never forget them....we loved them dearly.

Tera's NOTES:

Every weekend without fail Lynette is there to greet folks who want to adopt. She's the quiet reserved one that never demands anything. Yet, gives so much. She is the most faithful volunteer we have in the rescue. Her commitment to this rescue and to animals is unwavering. She is one of the most generous people you will ever meet when it comes to her time and effort in all that she does for animals.

There is rarely a weekend that goes by that at the end I'm not thinking, "Thank heavens for Lynette." She's there early if you ask her to be and she's there with her camera if you need pictures. She jumped in to help out on the website b/c we needed someone to take it over. She gets a thousand emails a week from me asking a bazillion questions and she always has the answers. If there is a person who is multi-faceted and capable of doing just about anything, it's Lynette. She's great with the animals but she's also a people person. When the rest of us are overwhelmed by the crowds of people at adoptions, she's there with a smile and a hello. You can't ask for anything more and every rescue should have a Lynette. But she's ours and we're keeping her!

Lynette has the healing touch. She fosters the sick cats and helps them back to health. When the rest of us are wondering why our cats can't get well, we hand off to Lynette and she brings them back in a few weeks and they are all better! Where there is a need in this rescue, Lynette fills the gap.