The Butte Humane Society in Chico recently combined two of its top jobs instead of replacing its departing volunteer coordinator.
The positions of Humane Education Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator were merged after Volunteer Coordinator Kathryn Raley moved to Sacramento.
Honey Souza, who now has both jobs, was chosen to take over as Volunteer Coordinator.
“She was open, is very good with people, and was more than happy to take the position,” said Butte Humane Society Executive Director Katrina Woodcox.
The two jobs, although given to the same person, have not been turned into one and are still separate positions. Souza just now has twice as many duties and two different jobs instead of one. Although they can sometimes intersect and work together, they remain separate jobs but done by the same person.
Raley’s last day as Volunteer Coordinator was Feb. 19. She moved to Sacramento to be closer to her family and is now working as an event coordinator for the Animal Medicine Department at UC Davis.
Raley said she thoroughly enjoyed her year and a half.
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with everyone," she said, "and I know Honey is going to do amazing things for Butte Humane Society.”
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with everyone," she said, "and I know Honey is going to do amazing things for Butte Humane Society.”
“Kathryn’s job focused mostly on planning special events and working on outreaches for adoptions,” Woodcox said. Raley organized Petsmart adoptions events and several fundraisers, from charity dinners to walkathons.
Raley also sent weekly emails to the volunteers, informing them on anything new at Butte Humane Society as well as the list of animals who had been adopted the past week.
Other events she organized included a health fair, meet and greets, a pumpkin carving party, adoption events at Chico Mall, a holiday party, art and wine festivals, and Thursday night farmers market.
“These events can be fun ways to meet people, get to know the animals of Butte Humane Society, participate in activities, and hopefully find new homes for as many cats and dogs as possible,” said volunteer Jessica Villalpando.
“These events can be fun ways to meet people, get to know the animals of Butte Humane Society, participate in activities, and hopefully find new homes for as many cats and dogs as possible,” said volunteer Jessica Villalpando.
Souza had previously taken over for Raley while Raley was out of town, and Souza adjusted quickly to the type of work required for the position. Since she already had the practice, it made her transition easier than if a completely new employee was hired.
“As far as changes I would like to make, I want to give volunteers more responsibility here at Butte Humane Society. We have taken surveys and seen that volunteers sometimes feel under utilized and would like to do more than just walking dogs and cleaning the area. I want to give them a variety of tasks,” Souza explained.
New to the volunteer coordinator job, Souza is eager to start but knows there is a lot of new information to absorb.
“Because I’m new, I have a lot of learning to do,” she said, “so I want volunteers to let me know if I overlooked something and (not) hesitate to ask me any questions they might have.”
-- By Hannah Suzuki
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Honey Souza with a dog from Butte Humane Society during an event when the staff visited elementary schools to talk about their organization and adoptions. |