In our facility, adult and high school volunteers care for cats and kittens awaiting homes. We affiliate with many local public and private high schools’ community service programs. After adults and students are given basic training they are scheduled to work with an experienced volunteer for on-the-job ‘finishing school’. Early reinforcement of duties and responsibilities helps embed the training. Margaret Jambor, the patient and efficient mentor to many new trainees, is tireless in her dedication to this often-difficult task. For her quiet, painstaking and priceless work on so many evening shifts as well as her own weekly duty time, Margaret has been recognized as the PZF 2018 Volunteer of The Year.

Margaret began early in her volunteering to take responsibility and act where action was needed. Not one to sit still, she identified where work was to be done, and led by example in getting it done properly. Maragret is confident, asks for the information needed to achieve a goal, and gets it done. She has never acknowledged a shortcut when it comes to a safe, enriched and clean environment for the cats and kittens. Soon, new adult volunteers were being assigned to work with Margaret following training. Once they had experienced Margaret’s “Let’s get it done with compassion” style, they were comfortable as well as motivated to handle their own shifts. Now overseeing the adult and high school volunteers on a number of evenings, Margaret leaves us wondering how it ever ran without her. She is highly respected and admired by all volunteers.