Honoring All of Col. Potter's Unsung Heros!

CP Gloves seeking comfort from her 1st Volunteer Foster Mom

An unsung hero is defined as:  “a person who makes a substantive yet unrecognized contribution; a person whose bravery is unknown or unacknowledged.”  Sometimes these brave people are unknown because they simply do what they believe is right and simply draw no attention to themselves.  At other times, these wonderful people deliberately choose to remain in the shadows, unseen and without recognition, because that anonymity is what is imperative for the success of their many efforts.  The cause is simply more important than accolades of any kind.

It is with this in mind that I have chosen as my Unsung Hero every Anonymous Volunteer from Everytown, USA & Canada, for the tireless work they do as Volunteers for Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network (CPCRN).   CPCRN is an all-volunteer organization.  Since its inception in 2001, CPCRN has rescued 3,577 plus dogs in need.  Col. Potter (CP) Transport Volunteers alone have traveled a combined average of 15,000+ miles each month, 187,064 miles each year, totaling 2, 244,768 miles and counting.   It takes hundreds of Volunteers to do this work!  A single transport can take 10+ drivers and cover more than 800 miles.

How do I choose between the group in Vancouver who did valet parking for a weekend to raise funds, or Volunteers who make bellybands, bandannas, and dog blankets to sell for CP?  I believe our Rescued Cairns would nominate our Volunteers who make and send each Foster their own blanket!  Should I honor the Volunteers working on our web site, or those who stock, process, and ship items sold from the CP on-line store? 

Should I select CP Volunteers who drop everything to save a dog that has only a few hours to live?  Maybe I should choose Volunteers who search on-line, each day, for Cairns needing rescue, making calls to shelters, asking to hold that Cairn until a CP Volunteer can pick it up?  I could pick CP Volunteers that respond to calls for help from other rescue groups when Cairns are saved from a bad environment.  These CP Volunteers see dogs in horrific condition and are the first to welcome them to the safety of Col. Potter.

I could choose each CP Foster Volunteer for the care they give to every Foster, but how would I choose?  Should I pick the Foster home who took in three young puppies, all with CMO, a potentially deadly genetic condition?  They showed these babies love and structure, while monitoring pain cycles, preparing liquefied meals to be licked, not chewed, and feeding by syringe, as needed, to ensure the pups got enough nutrition.  What about the Volunteer who Fostered a young Cairn who screamed in pain with every bowel movement, suffering a condition so complex, her specialist had never seen a case like it?   Should I give the nod to the Foster Home that worked through many nights to  save the life of a pregnant Cairn with life threatening infections, helping her deliver and care for eight live puppies?

There are many wonderful Volunteers who do great work for CPCRN, each one in their own special way.  Not for the glory, but because it’s the right thing to do.  It takes a special person to put their own needs aside to do what is right for a helpless little dog, and I am so proud to say that I personally know so many such special people.

Contributed by Marie S.

CP Foster Mom, Transport Volunteer, Home Safety Visit Volunteer,
and Mom to Ella and Gigi
July, 2013

Please feel free to cross-post!

Col. Potter Needs a Few More Unsung Heros!

Please Volunteer to Foster and help us help every Cairn in need!

Please  Consider being a CP Volunteer!

CP Foster Home Application form:

http://www.cairnrescue.com/rescue/foster.htm

CP Transport Volunteer Driver form:

http://cairnrescue.com/rescue/transport.htm 

CPCRN Volunteer form:

http://cairnrescue.com/rescue/volunteer.htm

WRAPPING UP 2010 AND WHAT A START TO 2011!!

Written by CP's VP of Intakes

The final figures have been tallied and totalled for CP 2010 Intakes .... and DRUM ROLL .... Thanks to Col. Potter and everyone who makes Col. Potter possible ... 385 Cairns were rescued and welcomed into the loving arms of Col. Potter in 2010!!! This is down slightly from both 2008 and 2009 by about 9%. Col. Potter ended 2010 with a GRAND TOTAL SINCE INCEPTION of 2,999 Cairns rescued.

2011 Intakes started off the year yesterday with the arrival of Ticonderoga who just happens to be NUMBER 3000!!! This is certainly quite an accomplishment and one everyone associated with Col. Potter can certainly be proud of!

We all know 2010 was a tough year on CP resources -- financially, shortage of foster homes, needing more volunteers to process the number of Cairns needing help, etc. All indications are 2011 will be much the same. We had to cut back on the number of Cairns we were able to help in 2010. I'm really hoping we won't have to make any further cuts in 2011.

I would like to say THANK YOU for your past help and ask you once again to open up your hearts, homes, wallets and precious time to help these little furkids that can't help themselves. Start a coin collection can, or pack a lunch and see how quickly the money adds up to donate and help the Cairns. Consider becoming a foster home, what's one more food bowl on the counter or crate on the floor? Get involved -- join a CP team and become an active volunteer -- there's something for every one! The Cairns need us now more than ever ...

Will you help a cairn today? Buy a $15 chance in the NLOL or volunteer to foster or help CP rescue cairns in need!

Written by CP's VP of Intakes

Today is the last day to participate! Please click here or use the blinking button above.

Monika is on her way back home right now with SIX Cairns who are enjoying the first leg of their journey to FREEDOM!!! There are four adult females, one 5 month old female puppy and one 10 week old male puppy. They have been waiting THREE weeks for this opportunity ... for CP to have the space and resources to take them.

Yesterday Tinker, after waiting months to wean her puppies and enduring horrific conditions including being covered in lice, made it to FREEDOM!

These are the lucky ones ... Recently, we have had to say NO to helping Cairns in need. Col. Potter has our limits just like anyone else and we have hit those limits. We need help from each and every member that is reading this. We need help from people outside of CP as we can't continue to financially support ourselves relying just on our members. What do we need?

We need you to share the news of these SIX new CP family members and Tinker with your entire email address book and ask them to consider buying just ONE New Leash on Life Raffle ticket:

We need everyone to get up out of the bleachers, get off the sidelines and GET IN THE GAME! We need more volunteers on every team in Col. Potter. There's something for everyone no matter what your skill or interest and with whatever time you have available. Complete the Volunteer application:

We need foster homes. We have some of the best foster homes in the world, but they can't keep going at the pace they have been. They need an occasional rest from the constant rotation of fosters in their homes and many with multiple fosters. Become a foster home -- what's one more food dish on the counter and one more crate on the floor?

Let's see that Cairn spirit and attitude! Let's make this NLOL a SELL-OUT!!! Let's find more volunteers to help process the furkids through the CP system so we can continue to help others. Let's give the gift of life -- become a foster home. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let's not let the Cairns down that need us so much .... Thank you ...

Friday's Feature

Written by a CP Media Volunteer

How could something that requires a person to dedicate a significant amount of their own time, effort, emotions, and even money, be so rewarding?

Col. Potter Volunteers have signs around their necks, marking them as pushovers for any outstretched Cairn paw that needs a helping hand. Many times, the volunteers experience more vexing moments than potentially getting peed-on, but they continue to come back for more. The volunteer can find it reaffirming, as if going that extra distance might show the confused, and in the beginning, "manners-challenged" Cairn that they still have a buddy standing by them, even if they aren’t showing their best side, at the moment.

The volunteer might also be demonstrating to themselves that their commitment goes beyond ear scritches, tummy rubs, and the easy joy of watching a happy Cairn at play. Hanging in there with a new furry acquaintance, who may smell badly, have serious and evident health and hygiene issues, in addition to being scared and defensive, is a true test of commitment. It will require that a sense of the future be present from the very beginning. One must also know that there is an organization behind the volunteer, which knows how to deal with those various hardships and illnesses. An organization which will enable the volunteer to promise the Cairn, life is going to get better; he won’t just be getting a change of scenery, but will also get a completely different life.

When I found Col. Potter, I was exploring the concept of rescue in general, with the idea that I would find a source for a Cairn in the future. I had no idea such small, sweet-natured dogs could have so many things go wrong with their health, or that they could endure so much abuse, and still maintain a core of hope and gentleness, in which many humans would do well to take note. My fondness for the breed grew stronger, as I realized at what length, a large group of very diverse, talented, and dedicated people would go, in order to salvage broken, but not wrecked, Cairn lives.

Volunteering for Col. Potter may open one up to the possibility of being exposed to things that can strain the senses and test one’s emotions. However, once the time of testing passes, what will remain, is a clean, bright-eyed, and loyal friend. A friend who might spend the rest of his life adjusting to freedom, but will know, that because someone accepted him for who he was, he won’t have to go back to his former life ever again!


Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network is in need of volunteers in all areas of the organization. If you interested in helping, we would love to talk to you! You don't have to have "mad skills", just a mad love for cairns! :)

Email our Director of Volunteerism by clicking here, or fill out the volunteer information form by clicking here.

If you are unable to volunteer but you would still like to help change the world, one dog at a time, contribute to rescue by clicking here.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO SUPPORT COL. POTTER

Written by NLOL Coordinator


Col. Potter is looking for a few new volunteers to help us in our tracking of Item Donations. Many people donate THINGS instead of money and we use these items in many fundraisers, such as our quarterly A New Leash On Life fundraiser, as well as our Ebay Store, and as sales items at our Cairn Rescue Annual Parties (fundraisers where Col. Potter Volunteers get together in many areas of the US to meet and raise funds for the dogs). We are in particular need of folks who can use Excel and who can create HTML for web pages.

The New Leash on Life is a quarterly fundraiser for Col. Potter in which participants purchase squares for $15.00 each to vie for prizes ranging from a Wii and a roomba to a week at a resort timeshare or a handmade quilt or handcrafted cairn cards. Not all prizes are dog related and in recent NLOLs, we have seen more vintage items as well.

The fundraiser runs anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks or so and is very popular with those who participate. Many squares are purchased through referrals. This is quite an undertaking and as more prizes are donated each time and more people participate, more volunteers are needed.

Item Donation Solicitor - This person would make contacts to business and people for items for use on Ebay, at Craps and on our NLOL. They would need to get information on each item including pictures, and descriptions including size and value. I can see having more than one person doing this.

Item Donation Database Person - this person would need to know Excel and would put all item donations in a database for tracking. Each item will have a number assigned. They will also monitor an email id specific for donations. They will also track as items are used.

Item Donation Web Page Person - This person would need to be able to do simple HTML to create and maintain a page for use by the Ebay and NLOL teams so they can more easily pick items for use. This web page will be updated when items come in and are used.

In addition to these volunteers, we have many other volunteer opportunites in such diverse areas as Transport Coordinations (creating Transport Plans and watching from your own home while fosters move around the US and Canada) and BookKeepers for our Financial Group, to Matchmakers finding the best home for our cairns, and the best cairns for our adoptive homes.

If you would like to volunteer, please click here and fill out the form. We'll find a spot for you. Please be sure to check computer skills if you can do HTML. Thank you for considering volunteering your time and talent to help.