UPDATE: Our first Wash-a-thon was such a success that we hope that the community will turn out to help us again on Sunday, Sept. 1. If you can volunteer to help us provide fresh, clean bedding for the pets in our care, dirty laundry will be bagged for pick up between noon & 5 p.m. this Sunday.
When you visit the Robins-Starr Humane Center, the first thing you may notice is how relaxed and happy many of the dogs and cats look. Our animal care staff prides itself on maintaining a clean and comfortable environment for the dogs and cats as they await adoption. This helps maintain good physical and mental health for the orphaned pets in our care.
July’s numbers provide a picture of what it takes to accomplish this task:
- 275 – the average number of dogs and cats cared for each day in July onsite at our Robins-Starr Humane Center. This doesn’t include those being cared for in the homes of our dedicated foster care volunteers.
- 23 – the average number of orphaned pets cared for daily by each animal care technician on our staff
- 3 to 5 – the number of linens and toys given to each animal each day to make his or her living area cozy and home-like
- 900 – average pieces of dirty laundry (towels, blankets, sheets, beds and toys) generated at our humane center each day.
- 262 – hours our volunteers spent doing laundry last month
The comfort of the dogs and cats in our care relies greatly on the community’s donation of beds, sheets and towels, and the effort of volunteers who frequently wash, dry and fold linens in our laundry room. During the summer months, we see an influx of orphaned kittens, and with every additional life saved, more laundry is required. At the moment, keeping the pets in our care comfortable produces more laundry each day than our two commercial laundry machines can handle, and we need the community’s help to catch up with the growing laundry pile!
This Saturday, August 10, we will be holding our first-ever community wash-a-thon! This is how it works: community volunteers can stop by the front desk of the Robins-Starr Humane Center between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to pick up a bag of dirty laundry and washing instructions. Then just take the laundry bag home, wash and dry the laundry and return it back to the front desk (in the clean bag provided) anytime during our normal business hours the following week.
It may seem like a small task, but it’s a huge need that makes a real difference in the day-to-day lives of the dogs and cats in our care. Help us turn this:
into this:
Timothy Joyner is the manager of volunteers and programs at the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Great idea! As someone who has worked in the laundry room many times, it is a daunting task and it often feels like the piles of laundry never shrink. I will be happy to pick up a bag this weekend!
Posted by: Valerie Chafee | August 08, 2013 at 02:45 PM
Tim, this is awesome. As the mom of an Animal Brigader, I know we would be game to pick up laundry on AB days and return it that week anytime. (We are sadly out of town this week or we would participate.)
Posted by: Stacy Deyerle | August 08, 2013 at 07:32 PM
I would be happy to do this anytime! We picked up 3 bags and the whole family helped out. My husband is dropping the cleaned and folded bags today! I could pick up a bag or two when I walk dogs one week and drop it off when I came to walk dogs the next week. Thanks for the opportunity to help out!
Posted by: Tracy Pouzar | August 12, 2013 at 12:12 PM