Whenever you consider volunteering at an animal shelter, your first thought could also be of all of the lovable puppies and kittens you’ll meet, and the animals you’ll fall in love with. However Brewster volunteer Steve Chapman can inform you there may be a lot extra to volunteering at ARL than what meets the attention. 

After 26 years in high-level Regulation Enforcement, Steve Chapman and his spouse Gail relocated to The Cape in 2006. After just a few years of planting their roots of their new house, Steve and Gail determined they have been prepared so as to add a four-legged pal to their household. “There’s nothing higher than seeing that pleased face within the window whenever you come house to a canine,” Steve says. So, they got here to the ARL’s Brewster Animal Care and Adoption Heart, the place they met and adopted a candy Labrador Retriever, Zoey. 

From there, Steve’s reference to ARL solely grew stronger. Retirement bought outdated shortly for Steve, so when searching for out methods to meaningfully spend his time, he determined to start out volunteering at ARL. Upon the beginning of his volunteer journey, Steve realized that enjoying with the kittens and puppies, though enjoyable, shouldn’t be what was most wanted. With a small variety of workers members and volunteers on the Brewster location, Steve turned the go-to man for serving to with numerous upkeep initiatives across the campus. In the present day, he’s affectionately generally known as the MacGuyver of Brewster. Should you go to the shelter, you possibly can in all probability discover Steve swapping mild bulbs, or fixing kennel doorways, or lifting and transferring meals, or actually simply doing something that’s wanted across the shelter! Whereas there are considerable alternatives to work with the animals, we’re so grateful to Steve’s dedication in serving to us with a number of the much less glamorous components of working an animal shelter. 

Along with his integral position as Brewster’s fix-it man, Steve has additionally change into somebody that each the workers and volunteers can go to for help. Working and volunteering could be an emotionally daunting endeavor, and Steve is all the time there to supply a listening ear, and supporting phrases. His expertise in regulation enforcement helped him develop excessive emotional resiliency and the power to stay logical in robust conditions. However that doesn’t imply the robust tales don’t have an effect on him. Actually, certainly one of Steve’s earliest reminiscences involving animals was standing as much as a neighborhood bully who was being tough with a neighborhood cat. At a younger age, Steve discovered the significance of standing up for what’s proper – even whether it is troublesome to do. 

Steve’s energy, composure, and heat makes him an important useful resource for our workers and volunteers. Steve is a kind of those who makes you snug sufficient to share your issues with, even inside hours of assembly him. Steve remembers a few of his greatest reminiscences at ARL as ones when he bought the prospect to attach with folks on a deeper degree. 

“Everybody has a narrative”, Steve says. And whether or not that story belongs to a workers member, volunteer, or shelter animal, Steve is there to supply his help. We’re so grateful to Steve for being an unwavering champion for animals and the individuals who love them.