Amanda getting some love from The Duchess

A warm welcome to Amanda Volden who has recently joined the Humane Society staff as the new Volunteer Coordinator. The Staff and Board feel very fortunate to welcome Amanda to the team and are excited about the direction our Volunteer program will grow under her supervision. 

Amanda originally joined The Humane Society of Ventura County as a volunteer back in January. As a student at California State University Channel Islands, Amanda was part of a program that required students to donate 90 hours of community service to a local Non-Profit.  Amanda had always wanted to work with animals. She describes choosing to volunteer at an animal shelter because "My pets have always been there for me and I wanted to be there for other animals”. For five months she worked closely with our previous Volunteer Coordinator and another student, Melissa Yanez, to create and maintain an Instagram account, write content for our weekly and quarterly newsletters, and help our Humane Educator with events and community outreach. 

In addition to working with the shelter, Amanda also adopted a cat named Roscoe. Amanda recalls the moment she first laid eyes on him, "Roscoe stole my heart when I first met him and after a few days of begging my family, we came up and introduced our dogs. We took Roscoe home that day and he has become a large part of our family since”. Besides Roscoe, Amanda has two dogs named Gizmo and Rossy who were both adopted about 5 years ago from Ventura County Animal Services. 

After completing her 90 hours of service, Amanda still came up to shelter to volunteer whenever she could. One day she heard they were looking to hire, as the Volunteer Coordinator at the time was transitioning into a new position. She spoke with Jolene Hoffman, the Shelter Director, and Jolene told her all about this wonderful opportunity.

Amanda has big plans for the program. She explains, "I really want to create an environment where the volunteers enjoy helping. I’m working towards more training opportunities, more volunteer appreciation, and more opportunities for the volunteers to do things they enjoy doing to help the shelter. It warms my heart to see so many people willing to help make all of our animal’s lives better. Every day is a new and exciting day and I learn so much from everyone at the shelter. People from all walks of life and circumstances join together to help dogs, cats, horses, and the occasional bunny to find new homes".

if you are interested in becoming a volunteer you can contact Amanda at 805-646-6505 ext. 110 or email [email protected].