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| Contributed photo Gabbie Collins and her cat Jill. |
By Gabby Collins
Freshman, CHS
My name is Gabby Collins, I’m 15 years old and I volunteer at Halfway Home Pet Rescue. I started volunteering there because I adopted my beautiful cat Jill from them about 3 months ago. I’ve been volunteering there ever since. I help out there every Saturday from 9 until 3. I clean litter boxes, help with the medicines, play with the kittens, and any other jobs Norma has for me to help with. It can be exhausting at times but it’s worth it!
Halfway Home is a cat rescue. We take in strays, keep them until they can be adopted, and then find homes for them where they’ll be happy. If the adoption doesn’t work out then we happily take the cat back and help it find a new home. Norma’s mission is to get all the cats she can into happy homes. Norma Milton owns the rescue. She’s an amazing woman who puts other’s needs ahead of her own. She teaches me a lot and always does the best she can! I admire her a lot because I know it can’t be easy to run the rescue!
We have a lot of the cats at the rescue. A few of them are Chester, Thomas, Darrel, Bill, and Oops! Chester is a 3 legged male cat. He was a stray found on the side of the road with a severe infection in his leg. So, he had to have one removed! Thomas is a big, orange cat who loves attention. Darrel is a little orange and white cat with really big eyes. Bill is black and has a white patch of fur on his upper lip; it looks just like a mustache. Bill and Darrel are best friends and are both very shy! Oops is little and tan with black designs. She is scared easily but very sweet after she calms down! My own cat Jill is very stubborn, sassy, and kind of strange. She is very sweet though once she gets to know you.
Volunteering is very rewarding! It’s a wonderful feeling to know you made a difference in the community! Helping people find the right cat for their family and helping a child find their first kitten is an awesome feeling. Seeing their happy faces and hearing the joy in their voices is very rewarding. You can tell your doing a good thing as soon as you help someone find their first cat. I am very thankful for having such an amazing place to volunteer at and such amazing people to work with.
