Volunteers of the Year 2022
PAWS Chicago salutes our volunteers who give their time and love to helping homeless cats and dogs
Every year, we honor PAWS volunteers as our Volunteers of the Year. While every single volunteer is absolutely vital to the work we do, these ten special individuals went above and beyond in lending a helping hand to Chicago’s homeless animals. Help us celebrate 2022’s winners and read a little about what makes them so invaluable to PAWS!
Congratulations to Matt, Trish, Amy, James, Noah, Erica, Ann, Gerry, Behn, and Don!
Volunteer All Stars
Matt Smith
Matt began his journey with PAWS Chicago in early 2022 after moving from New Jersey. Matt quickly became an indispensable part of the volunteer team as a Dog Town volunteer here at LPAC. Becoming a Level 2 Dog Town volunteer, First Shift Mentor and Event Volunteer, Matt has gone all in as a PAWS volunteer. Matt also fostered a volunteer favorite, Derrick, and recently adopted him! Matt is incredibly helpful, supportive and has a great attitude. He truly embodies the PAWS Chicago Volunteer spirit and for all these reasons, he is our New Volunteer of the Year!
Trish Albertini
Trish invests so much of herself into every animal she interacts with, which allows her to understand and connect with our cats on a very profound level, like when she’s socializing with a group of 6-week-old kittens who are bouncing off the walls or fighting for her attention. Additionally, Trish often overcomes many challenges when she spends time with our critical medical cases as a TLC Team Member. Simply, she feels for every cat, and she does what she can help to them thrive. She is also a kind and empathetic communicator to cats and humans alike. Trish, thank you for being a wonderful ambassador for our programs, for cheering on your fellow volunteers, and for providing such loving care to our cats.
Amy Johnson
Amy has volunteered with us for over 8 years and has nearly 1,500 hours of service. In that time, Amy became a Level 3 Dog Care volunteer, and regularly leads training classes, and helps with transport, TLC, and events. Amy comes into the Medical Center most Friday mornings, and most Friday mornings everything runs smoothly because she is there. If we ever need a puppy washed, a helping hand in transport, or even a mad dash for some Kitten Milk Replacement, Amy is always willing to jump in! In addition to working with and training our L2 & L3 dogs, she helps with our TLC program, making sure to spend a significant portion of her shift socializing with our sick animals; and somehow, through all of that she also finds a way to knock out a good portion of the dishes. Throughout her time here at PAWS Amy has shown immense dedication, flexibility, and unending kindness for our animals. We are so grateful to have a volunteer like Amy on our team, and we are so happy we can celebrate her tonight!
James Horwath
James began his volunteer journey with PAWS in August of 2021. Since then, he has graced PAWS with nearly 450 hours of his service. James is a Level 2 volunteer at both the Adoption Center and the Medical Center. Not only did he level up at both of our facilities, James has become an asset on the volunteer team by also being a First Shift Mentor, an Event Volunteer, a Media Volunteer, and a Transport Driver. As a First Shift Mentor, James welcomes in new volunteers with a smiling face and creates a warm environment to learn and ask questions. He goes the extra mile by coming in early for his mentor shifts to walk dogs. James always comes in with a great attitude and is willing to help wherever is needed. We can always count on James not only for his willingness to represent PAWS at Media Events and Off-Site Adoption events, but to drive a van full of barking puppies to and from the events. We cannot thank James enough for all he does for PAWS.
Noah Shoates
Noah began volunteering with PAWS in 2021. Since then, Noah has dedicated nearly 500 hours of service to PAWS. Each Friday, Noah comes in, typically wearing a fashionable cat themed fit, and instantly puts a smile on the face of staff, volunteers, and adopters. As a kitty city level two volunteer, Noah spends time with and advocates for both our level 1 and level 2 kitties. As a first shift mentor, he spreads his knowledge and passion for PAWS cats to new volunteers. This past year Noah came to us asking what more he could do to help. Since then, he has been signed off as an adoption desk volunteer, media volunteer, adoption counselor, and has pioneered our IT team support program. We are so grateful for all that you do, and you are so deserving of this award!
Erica Saucedo
Erica began volunteering with PAWS in 2021. Since then, she has accrued over 300 hours of service as well as the unending adoration of many of our MC cats! Erica brings a level of care to her volunteering that serves all our animals, but our cats truly benefit the most. When Erica comes into the Medical Center, she aims to comfort all the animals. She will move from kennel to kennel and ensure that every cat has the softest blanket or bed to snuggle into, all water bowls are filled, and toys distributed. No one can get any attention from the cats after Erica has set them up, they are all too cozy to care about anything else! Erica brings such a positive outlook to PAWS, she is never afraid to ask questions, and always willing to get involved in any way she can! Erica has participated in our Spay Days, adoption events, rescue intakes and even facilitated the intake of a stray animals into our program. We are so lucky to have someone like Erica volunteer with us. Her dedication to all our animals, but especially to the comfort and care of our cats means the world. She always has a story to share, a favorite cat to tell you about, and so much love to share with our PAWS pets!
Ann Worthing
Ann began volunteering at the Medical Center during the pandemic, and it was immediately clear to me that she was up for just about anything. Countless times, Ann has said to me “I just want to be useful.” But calling Ann “useful” would be an understatement. She is one of the few volunteers who has supported our animals through every step of the PAWS Journey. Ann has hit the road for several Intake Trips, has been a fixture on the Community Cats TNR team, and assists Medical Center staff with the Intake evaluations for so many of the cats that have entered our program. She uses her Kitty City Level 2 skills to provide quality enrichment time to stressed kitties at the Medical Center. And, for someone who is primarily a “cat person,” she put in the hours in Dog Care and participated in our Dog Care Level 2 Class, just to learn how to better handle and support our canines. To help our furry friends make the transition from MC to LPAC, she drives Adoption Center Transport, and spends much of her time volunteering as an Adoption Counselor and KCL2 here at LPAC, helping so many of our pets find their homes.
Gerry Sansone
This year, Gerry completed 2,000 volunteer hours with PAWS! Gerry is a dedicated leader in the community, our organization, and to our volunteers. Recently, at our Barrington Family Expo tabling event in August, Gerry made the event a huge success with her flexibility and determination- she and her husband Richard went way out of their way to make it successful! Other volunteers always have wonderful stories about Gerry, which speaks to her dedication, kind heart, and impact to PAWS!
Behn Rudo
Behn volunteers regularly four days a week. Coming in so frequently and being a volunteer for over 15 years and a L3 volunteer since 2014, he has the most lifetime hours out of any other volunteer, according to our database, with over 9,275 hours! This year alone, he’s already volunteered over 770 hours! On top of his weekly regular volunteering, Behn has really stepped up in so many additional ways to help expand our volunteer program. Behn’s passion for supporting and improving the volunteer program is so appreciated by the team – he is a true partner – and his love and commitment for PAWS Chicago shines through every day! Thanks Behn!
Don Allerton
Don is a volunteer known and treasured by so many. The volunteer team is so grateful to him for serving as a Dog Town mentor and training hundreds of new volunteers. He is also a visiting volunteer group host, amplifying his volunteer effort to spread awareness of PAWS to dozens of visiting corporate, community, and school groups each year. While we all appreciate his kindness, quick wit and incredible willingness to help PAWS Chicago, his impact on our adopters is truly what sets him apart. Don has been an adoption counselor for the last decade, sending home countless PAWS pets to their new homes. The care and kindness he shows to each and every adopter is nothing short of magic- and we know that so many of our 4,600 adoptions last year went home because of him. Thank you, Don, for absolutely embodying our mission in everything you do.