In order to ensure that all volunteers are familiar with our services, procedures and policies, we have produced a CCHS Volunteer Manual!  All active volunteers are required to pick up a handbook, become familiar with the information and turn in the Acknowledgement of Receipt (the last page of the book) to me no later than April 1st.  You can pick up your handbook at any time – just come into the office and I will give you your copy.  If I am not in, Lesley (my officemate) will get one for you.  If anyone has questions about anything in the handbook, feel free to talk to me at any time.  All of the information in the handbook is subject to change at any time, and all changes will be explained in the monthly volunteer newsletters.  When you bring in your Acknowledgement of Receipt, you can give it to me or any of our front desk staff.  Thank you so much for your cooperation!
 
Great News – Special Animal Adoptions
 
Drum roll please…ZIMA, who spent a whopping sixteen months with us at CCHS finally found a forever home!  Other fantastic kitties who found homes include Willow, Stars, Max and Chance from our communal room, and those sweet cats PJ and Brandi from Kitty City were all adopted by loving families.  Don’t forget about the dogs!  That adorable little Punky Pie was adopted as well as K.O., the dog that we were treating for heartworm infection.  After a rough few weeks, Bo found a new family, too!  You may remember that Bo came to us because his owner was called to active duty and was unable to keep him anymore.  What a fantastic month for adoptions!
 
Announcements

• You should have already received an e-mail from me notifying you that our dog walking program is temporarily suspended due to a high incidence of upper respiratory infection and diarrhea in our dog population.  Volunteers may still take the dogs into get acquainted rooms, but you must be aware of our extra precautions – they are listed on the announcement board in the Volunteer Center.  Don’t hesitate to ask a staff member if you have any questions.
  
• Mark your calendars…we are going to be a part of the University of Illinois’ Humane Education Petsravaganza on April 29th.  Visit http://events.ansci.uiuc.edu/companion/petstravaganza/ for more information!
  
• On March 10th and 11th we will again be a part of the ExplorACES event held by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the UI.  We will need volunteers to help handle animals and interact with visitors.  You will receive an e-mail message with details as the date approaches.
  
• USA Spay Day 2006 will be February 28th.  The Doris Day Animal Foundation established USA Spay Day in 1995 to save the lives of homeless animals through the spay or neuter of our pets and feral cats.  Since its inception, Spay Day USA participants have performed over 1,225,000 sterilization surgeries!  From February 27th – March 3rd, local veterinarians will be offering a 25% discount on all spays and neuters.  See the front desk staff for a complete list of participating veterinary clinics.
  
• We have a new volunteer opportunity!  We are looking for volunteers to visit our offsite cats at Animal Outfitters in Savoy to trim their claws and perform basic grooming.  We will need two volunteers twice a month to visit those cats.  See me if you are interested in this opportunity.  Our front desk staff will teach you the proper way to trim cat claws before you begin.
  
• You all worked so hard in 2005, bringing the total of volunteer hours to an amazing 10946.25 hours, over 1,500 more hours than 2004.  Let’s keep up that great trend and work together to make CCHS the best shelter it can be!  We couldn’t do it without you!
  
• 2005 also showed fantastic adoption numbers, too!  We saw 2,431 wonderful animals find their forever families last year.  We are working hard to keep that number rising!
   
  

Reminders
 

• If you haven’t volunteered in the shelter since December, please start a new 2006 timesheet for our sign in books.  You can find blank sheets on the west wall of the Volunteer Center.
  
• Check out our website at www.cuhumane.org for up to date notes on our events, animal information, success stories and more!  This is a fantastic source of information if you have questions about the shelter.
  
• Let’s all work together to keep the Volunteer Center looking great!  Please make an effort to keep nametags off of the desk top, return brushes to the appropriate area and always remember to put the nametag roll back into the drawer.  Thanks for your cooperation!
  
• If the grooming supplies drawer has more than ten brushes in it, please do not put any additional brushes there.  All excess brushes can be placed in the kitchen or at the front desk.  Our cat socializers need to be able to get to the socializing rings in the drawer, too!
  
• Don’t forget that all volunteers must wear nametags at all times while volunteering.  Adults (18+) wear white tags, Apprentice volunteers (14-17) wear purple nametags and Junior volunteers and mentors (10-13) wear orange nametags.  You should wear a nametag even if you are wearing a CCHS volunteer t-shirt.
  
• If you have any old shower curtain rings at home, please consider donating them to the volunteer department!  We can always use extra rings for our cat socializing program.
  
• When volunteering, please try to hang your coats on the far left side of the Volunteer Center so our visitors can still see our bulletin boards.  Hats, gloves, mugs, etc. can be stored on the shelf above the coats.
  
• Junior & Apprentice volunteers:  when signing up for shifts on your schedule sheets, please write your first and last name in the box.  This helps our staff when we are scheduling hours.
  

Notable Notes
 
We still have volunteer t-shirts available in red small, red large, grey large, red xxlarge, grey xxlarge, red xxxlarge and grey xxxlarge.  See Katie, Rachel or Michelle to get yours today for just $5.00!

Our CCHS Cook Book, Bon Apetit is available for purchase at our front desk or off of our website for $15.00.  Our Cook Book is a collection of recipes compiled by friends of CCHS and all proceeds from sales go directly to help the animals in our care!  Tell your friends!

February is Prevent a Litter Month, Adopt a Rescue Rabbit Month and Wild Bird Feeding Month!