Austin Pets Alive! is excited to recognize one of our standout volunteers each month with a full page feature in Austin Woman Magazine, thanks to the help of Austin Subaru. Our volunteers are one of the main reasons that thousands of animals' lives are saved each year, and we could not do what we do without them!
Our Volunteer of the Month is someone who takes that desire to make a difference, and goes far beyond. To our online community, this goes tenfold with our July Volunteer of the Month. This month we are thrilled to celebrate a volunteer whose work you often see here in our blogs, on our Twitter page, running our Instagram page, posting on Facebook, and volunteering with our Dog Behavior Team while capturing pictures that take a person away from their computer and into our shelter to adopt. If you wake up early on Saturdays, you might even recognize her from our monthly Adopt a Pet segment on KXAN. We are thrilled to recognize Summer Huggins as our July Volunteer of the Month.
Summer started volunteering with APA! in July 2010, and the Austin Pets Alive! colleagues had plenty to say about her impact:
“Summer is tireless and her positive attitude is infectious! She is willing to help with anything (and is good at nearly everything) from getting down and dirty with the dogs, to social media and marketing, and of course photography. Summer is so knowledgeable about APA! and such a reliable team member. She regularly comes down to APA! to work with the dogs and takes photos, quickly responds to any emails or favors I have to ask of her (which there are many!), and finds time to attend most special events and fundraisers. Whenever Summer is involved with a project, I know it will be done right!” - Kristina Jakstas, Donor Relations Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
"Summer is the perfect name for such a warm, shining, radiant individual." -Aaron Caldwell, Behavior Department Assistant Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
"Summer is a creative and talented photographer. She has a knack for capturing the personalities of our APA! dogs and helping them shine. She brings enthusiasm and energy to the dog program and the dogs she works with respond well to her awesomeness." - Lindsay Henderson, Dog Adoption Program Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
"Summer is the most positive, upbeat person I have ever met. She always has a smile on her face and always has something nice to say! Summer has helped us get so many marketing campaigns completed. She comes up with creative ideas, jumps in with both feet and all efforts. She did an amazing photo spread of Cafe, my fosters, CGC dogs, etc. Summer is always willing to step in and make our jobs easier in helping to promote all of our dogs. Summer is an amazing photographer, videographer, blogger, behavior trainee and works amazing with the behavior dogs, etc. I could go on and on..." - Faith Wright, Operations Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
"I once told Summer, 'If I say I love you one more time, my fiance is going to start to get jealous!' Summer is simply invaluable, not just as a volunteer but as a person who makes a difference. Her talent as a photographer is immense. Her ease to work with, both with people and even the most timid pups, makes every situation easy. She is the support that I wish everyone could have. I've thrown her into some precarious situations on TV, but you wouldn't know it because she smiles and laughs and brings the attention right back to the pets. She is one of the most reliable people I have ever worked with...sometimes it's easy to forget that she isn't working, she is handing us her time and talents to make an impact. And that's who she is, and that's exactly what she does." - Arianne Schrodel, PR & Marketing Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
Congratulations, Summer! Thank you for everything that you do to help Austin's rescues, every day.