Volunteers and staff

Volunteers and staff who operate almost all our programs

(NOTE: Additional volunteers will be featured here as soon as information can be compiled and entered on the page. Meanwhile, we express our gratitude to the efforts of every volunteer.)

WCG Humane Society operates a dog shelter and a cat shelter. It also offers programs for pet adoption, foster care giving, spay-neuter, and feral cat Trap-Neuter-Release. Only four part-time staff help operate our programs. We receive minimal government support with almost all of our operating funds coming through the tireless efforts of unpaid volunteers residing in our local community.

Tamara Scharfenkamp, Dog shelter manager

(Part-time staff) Tamara joined us in August 2011 with almost 20 years of non-profit leadership and management experience to WCGHS. She is a dog trainer who enjoys spending time with her own her pack. Her greatest motivation for taking the position is the high level of commitment and involvement of volunteers. She's new to the NW, so please stop by the Dog Shelter to say 'Hello.’

Barb Hoover, Cat shelter manager

(Part-time staff) Barb Hoover worked for 25 years with UPS in Honolulu, Hawaii, first as a package delivery driver, then in management.  In Hawaii, she participated in the Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program with the Hawaiian Humane Society as the Islands have many feral cat colonies.  After retiring in 2006, she returned to Vancouver to care for my elderly mother who lived at home with her until health issues necessitated a move to assisted living.  In 2006, Barb began volunteering with WCGHS as a cat shelter cleaner, choosing our program specifically because of its 'No-kill' philosophy.  She joined the WCGHS Board in 2007, serving for 3 years. In 2008, after becoming Cat Shelter Manager as a paid staff, she resigned the Board. Her spare time is spent with family & friends, gardening, reading, travel (especially the Oregon Coast), and attending cat shows.  She also operates a small pet sitting service.

Sheila Davis, Cat shelter medical manager

Sheila Davis, (Part-time staff - Unpaid volunteer)here with son, Andrew, found WCGHS when her kitty, Dude, passed away after 21 loving years. Sheila’s early years were spent in rural NE WA and OR. She went on to attend OSU (Go Beavs!), and raised three sons with her husband, an oil company engineer, in CA, TX, and Central America. She   returned to the NW nine years ago after her second husband passed away, settling in Camas across the river from her brother. She loves all animals, and once had a little rat that thought she was Mom! Today, she shares her home with two adopted cats of her own, and fosters others when the need arises. A cat or kitten in need will always find comfort in her care. Her dogs, a lab mix and a border collie mix, have passed on. Sheila is a stellar WCGHS volunteer, beginning as a cleaner at the old Cat Shelter trailer, and then gaining great proficiency in administering medications. She also cleaned the PetSmart adoption area every Monday morning for four years. Today, she manages the essential task of all cat medications.

Mary Bell, Morning cat shelter assistant

(Half-time employee) Mary Bell is a part-time employee whose wages are partly subsidized by the federal Partners in Careers senior employment program. Her regular duties are the morning chores, including litter box cleaning, dish washing, laundry, disinfecting shelter, outdoor cat care, and more. In addition, she donates many ‘off the clock’ volunteer hours. What is her favorite shelter activity? “Spending quiet time with the cats where we get to know each other better,” she says. Mary shares her home with three ‘Old Sisters,’ loving cat companions for fourteen years.

'Big Dog' Bill Korpa, Dog volunteer

Bill Korpa is a truly a ’Big Dog’ volunteer at the WCGHS Dog Shelter. Among his many contributions is the zeal with which he plays Santa for dog photos at PetSmart, two years in a row now, even supplying his own natural beard. “I love this opportunity to interact with the dogs and their owners,” says Bill, along with wife, Gail, who pitches in as ‘Santa’s Helper’, squeaky toys and treats in hand to make dogs smile for the camera. This spring Bill came up with the idea of helping WCGHS shelter dogs gain access to the local Washougal off-leash dog park down the road from the Shelter. He met with Mark Heiny of Dog Paw, an organization that supports local off-leash parks, and then presented the idea to their entire Board. Thanks to Bill’s actions, WCGHS volunteers have 3 days per week from 10:00AM-12:00PM to secure the Park gates, and allow shelter dogs to run free. Locked gates are necessary because shelter dogs cannot interact with the public’s dogs for many reasons! WCGHS dogs would never enjoy the pleasures of ’off leash’ time, free to run, play, and roll in the grass were it not for Bill’s success in securing this special freedom for them. Bill is ’Big Dog’ to his canine fan club at the WCGHS Shelter...a genuine canine hero. Our deepest gratitude goes out from all our hearts to Bill and Gail Korpa for caring so much about the health and well-being of WCGHS dogs!

Sara Bertrand, Dog volunteer

Sara Bertrand, and her Mom, Jane Maukstad, are dedicated volunteers at the WCGHS dog shelter. They have been active for almost two years as Night Cleaners, a job that calls for patience and flexibility to make friends with every shape, size, and temperament of dog. This energetic mother and daughter team enjoys sharing social time with each other as they complete dog chores, inside and out. What are their favorite aspects of being dog volunteers? Seeing the looks of happiness that flash across the faces of all the dogs when they see visitors come through the shelter door. And they look forward to arriving at the shelter each week to learn which lucky dogs have been adopted into loving, caring homes of their own.

Diana Alderman, Cat volunteer

Diana Alderman, a member of the Board of Directors and volunteer for over 3 years, first helped us by taking photos for the shelter website after becoming acquainted with WCGHS volunteers at a Petco ‘Scratch & Dent Sale’ event for less adoptable cats. Diana now contributes in many ways. She serves on the Board and the Adoption & Fund raising Committee, and is Cat Adoption Manager. She has been called upon as a cat foster, cat transporter, and newsletter contributor. She assists with the IShelters database, and is ISO-care qualified. Diana reaps many rewards as a volunteer: Watching stray cats enjoy the safety and caring of the cat shelter while awaiting adoption; seeing homeless animals find their ‘Forever’ homes; developing new volunteer relationships & responsibilities; and helping sick cats heal, and then assisting them into loving homes. She even adopted one, now ‘Kitty Love of My Life,’ the handsome ‘Little Dude’. He still has some mental trauma from his early years, but she loves him for who he is, and works around his issues, inspired by the deep bonds they formed in the beginning when she was his protector and foster mom.

Caitlin Hanley, dog shelter volunteer

Caitlin Hadley (here with our now-adopted dog, Tony,) has been volunteering at No-Kill shelters since she got her dog, Pebbles , from one in 2004. Two years ago, when Caitlin was 15, she started working at WCGHS. She began as a morning cleaner at the Dog Shelter, and after just a few months, she was helping at adoption events and fundraisers on a regular basis. At this time she goes to the Dog Shelter three times a week to clean, and do office work. She also helps out WCGHS with fundraising, even designing and managing events herself. So far, she has put together a calendar of WCGHS dogs and cats for 2011 and 2012, and a very successful "Howl-O-Ween" Haunted House Fundraiser in Camas. She lives in Skamania with her parents, two sisters, and two lab mix dogs, Barney and Pebbles. Caitlin is studying at Clark College for an Associate degree with plans to transfer to PSU for a degree in Non-Profit Business Management with the goal of pursuing a career in the No-Kill shelter field. In her spare time, she enjoys African dance, photography, music, and spending time with family and friends. Thanks, Caitlin, for working so hard for our animals!

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