Working with SOAR is like being part of a family, made up of people who have known one another “forever.” Except that our “family” works together with one common goal: giving second chances to a very special breed of dog.
I volunteer because I love our Airedales and I absolutely love all of the people here who dedicate so much of their own lives to bettering the dogs’ lives. It’s a wonderful thing to do, not only for Airedales, but for every breed and every animal. They all need our helping hands and watchful eyes at all times.
Being hard of hearing always limited me somewhat, but it never dampened my enthusiasm or dulled my resolve or kept me from being a spectacular foster fail back in the day because I fell in love with some of my fosters and simply couldn’t part with them! But here at SOAR, I’m safe from “failing” because I assist Lynn in the story/text editing for our annual calendar.
I work full time for the Bellarmine University Library in Kentucky and love my job, while my sister, my 83-year-old mother, and I live in a house with our two beloved furkids – Hannah, an Airedale and Makayla, an Airedale mix (one of my famous foster fails).
One of my fondest “Airedale” memories occurred several years ago. I was attending a fundraiser in Dayton and Hannah had accompanied me. After walking around leisurely, I noticed a beautiful Airedale barking at us – in recognition of a fellow ‘dale, no doubt – from a car parked at the entrance of our hotel. When I came back out, Susan Fox (and that beautiful ‘dale named Piper) was pulling away and we waved to one another.
The next morning, as fate would have it, we bumped into each other and ended up having breakfast together, the conversation flowing as easily as if we had always been friends. People who met us at the fundraiser assumed we were there together, and when we told them that we had only just met, they were astounded.
You see, there’s just something about Airedales! And that’s how it’s been until this day. Susan and I became the best of friends, and together with Hannah and Piper, have attended numerous Airedale and SOAR events over the years.
As for Hannah and Piper? They bonded in ways I’d never seen before.
