Thundering Paws volunteers are busy people. For example volunteer Emily Sliz will be working in Ghana as a volunteer this coming spring for Unite for Sight and is writing here about the organization. If you are a volunteer and would like to share news, please send it to Anne for consideration.

Dear Friend,

People are so generous during the holiday season! That's one reason that it's a major fund-raising time of year for us. Help us earn money to pay our vets, provide shelter, and buy food and supplies for our many animals. Here are our holiday volunteer opportunities.

Gift wrapping

For gift wrapping, we have these times at Bookpeople on Lamar at 6th Street:

Thanks to volunteers from the UT chapter of Gamma Beta Phi. With your help, we painted two rooms at Thundering Paws. Thanks also to regular volunteers Kay, Dave, Stephanie, Samantha, and Jennifer who helped with the painting work. It looks great!

Cat room cats enjoy sunny weather on the run while their room is painted

December is a huge month for fundraisers, and we have a lot of events lined up. Please help us by spreading the word to your friends and family. We do still need volunteers for these events as well. If you can help, write to calcat75@yahoo.com and let us know which event you're interested in.

We had 53 volunteers come to Thundering Paws on Saturday, March 29th, from a few groups at U.T. through the Project Reach Out program.

Some of the wonderful Project Reach Out volunteers

We could really use some additional volunteers to help out at the Sanctuary. There is a wide variety of chores that need to be done on a regular basis -- folding laundry, washing walls and floors, petting cats, vacuuming, walking dogs, making sure there's food and fresh water all around, giving out treats and distributing catnip, scooping litter boxes, brushing kitties, cleaning bunny cages, doing yard work, playing with cats, keeping supplies maintained.

1.  Volunteer at the sanctuary. We always need more help, and it's fun for you, too.
2. Donate money and ask your friends to donate as well.
3. Ask your employer to become a corporate sponsor.
4. Adopt a pet from Thundering Paws, or sponsor one of our unadoptable animals.

I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet! But the holiday season is very important for us and organizing the many fund raising events has already started. We sure could use your help!

Two of our holiday activities are gift wrapping and Santa Claws and Paws photos.

Both are very easy to get involved with and are so much fun! It will definitely cheer you up to see all the smiles you get with either of these activities and help get you in the spirit of the season.

On Sunday, November 11, eleven students from UT's Gamma Beta Phi, an honors club for students with grade point averages of 3.75 and above, came to Thundering Paws and gave us three hours of work and animal loving.

They washed down the cat run, scrubbed dirty litter boxes, vacuumed and mopped, moved heavy things, cleaned out our dog Sweet Pea's kennel, and fed, watered, and scooped litter boxes inside the house. As if that wasn't enough, they stayed and petted and brushed everyone who would let them, which is quite a lot of petting and brushing.

Thundering Paws could use more on-site volunteers. Have you ever wondered what a whole house full of cats (and dogs and bunnies) looks like? Come on out and spend a Sunday afternoon with us. There is always cleaning and organizing to do here, or you could give one of our regular volunteers a welcome break and scoop all the litter boxes. It's a good way to meet new kitty friends in every room.