We know that volunteers are the backbone of any community. Without the efforts of people who donate their time, energy and expertise – asking for nothing but a thank you in return – many vital organizations and agencies would simply cease to function. In our third annual Our People, Our Peninsula feature, Peace Arch News is profiling seven volunteers whose efforts are making a meaningful difference in their community.
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Louise Holden has always loved animals of all kinds, so when she moved to the Lower Mainland from Williams Lake eight years ago, she started looking for a place where she could volunteer.
She found Urban Safari Rescue Society, an exotic animal rescue organization in South Surrey, and started at two days a week.
Now, she works six hours a day, five days a week, after dropping her grandchildren off at school.
“I love working with the animals. I just have a real love and passion for them,” Holden said, noting some have not come from homes where they were well-socialized.
“I have my favourites… Captain Crunch. He’s an iguana who survived the fire,” she said, referring to the devastating blaze that killed several of the rescue’s animals in January of this year.
“At first, his trust with people was not good. I took a lot of time, working with him – it took a long time, but now we’ve got a really strong bond.”
Sharon Doucette, the society’s executive director, noted the retiree’s incredible dedication.
“She is a work-horse and volunteers her time five days a week – six hours a day without fail, caring for the animals at Urban Safari,” Doucette said. “She mucks out pigs, rabbits, birds and Guinea pigs, feeds and applies medications when needed, she has befriended all the animals and knows their needs and personalities.”
Before the society’s temporary closure due to the fire, Holden would happily talk to kids and adults teaching them about animals and how quirky and wonderful they are in their individual ways, Doucette said.
A couple of years ago she joined the rescue’s volunteer board of directors and contributes in the decision making process.
“She is quiet, hard working woman with a heart of gold. She is a dependable backbone of Urban Safari and we would be lost without her.”