The holidays are here. We have a lot to be thankful for at ARF.

We have wonderful caregivers who take care of the animals every day. Caregivers are paid employees. They are all wonderful. They do so much more than the basic care of our animals. They deserve a huge thank you from everyone. Our cats and dogs are wonderful, happy, healthy animals because of them. The caregivers work very hard, and their ‘bonus’ is lots puppy kisses, dog slobber and purrs and head butts from the cats.

Our volunteers are terrific, too. We have volunteers at the shelter walking the dogs and playing with the cats. Most of these volunteers are GCSU students. The animals miss them during the school breaks. Volunteers also do adoption counseling. Some of the seasoned veteran volunteers train the new volunteers.

We have volunteers who do our fund-raising. Most of these volunteers work all week and on weekends or after work, they work hard raising much needed funds for ARF. We’ll have volunteers at the Milledgeville Mall every Saturday until Christmas beginning Nov. 21.

We have volunteers for Humane Education and Pet Therapy, and we need more of them. We’ve got a new terrific school program for grades K-3. Pet Therapy is always a fun time. Puppies are taken to Georgia War Veteran’s Homes and get hugged, and the puppies give lots of kisses. The ARF board of directors is all volunteers.

Most of our volunteers aren’t as visible as those who volunteer at the shelter. We have volunteers who keep our Web site, Petfinder and other Web sites up to date. They really are the unseen volunteers behind the camera and working at the computer. We have a great group of volunteers and they, too, deserve a great big thank you. The ARF volunteers are priceless.

Some of our volunteers don’t want any thank you. They think they are giving us the gift of their time. And they are, but acknowledging their gift is very important. So, again, thank you to all of ARF’s volunteers!

Our donors deserve thanks always! Without our donors, we couldn’t do everything we do. Even with the economy being difficult, we still receive donations — not as many as we have in the past or maybe not the same amounts, but we are thankful we’re receiving donations to help us care for the animals.

We’re thankful for the veterinarians who work so well with us. Their support for what we do keeps us going.

Thank you’s are also so important to everyone who adopted a cat or dog from us. These individuals and families support our mission and how we want animals to be cared for; with love and respect, as indoor-outdoor dogs and indoor cats. While we don’t have a lot of adoptions, we are very thankful for the great families who have adopted our precious animals.

I am thankful for being a part of ARF for more than 26 years. It’s been fun and it’s been a struggle. I’ve been humbled by many generous people. I’ve been saddened by someone’s heartbreak from losing a pet when they bring their pets’ belongings to us. I’ve been frustrated countless times, because we can’t help someone who has found animals and we can’t take them in because we’re full. I’ve been angered by the people who leave puppies to die in the woods.

But I am thankful that someone saw the box of puppies and brought to ARF the one puppy that was still alive and doing well.

Counting blessings and being thankful should be an everyday thing to do. We stress it at Thanksgiving. I am thankful that I have the heart to do this. We used to hear this frequently: “I’m too soft-hearted to do what you do.” We, at ARF, are very soft-hearted — for the animals. We couldn’t do it if we weren’t. Thank you to all of our soft-hearted caregivers, volunteers and friends who contribute and adopt!