Happy Purrthday!
Monday cat crew volunteer at Animal Welfare Dept. turns 90
The Monday “Fraidy Cat Village” people had a big surprise waiting for their star volunteer at the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department this week. Florence Sander was turning 90 and, when she finished her regular Monday shift, the other volunteers led her out to the lobby, where a crowd was gathered around a chocolate and raspberry sheet cake frosted with a smiling feline.
“My goodness!” Sander exclaimed as she strode up with her cane, taking in the television camera, AWD staff and reporters. “Now everyone knows how old I am!”
She showed up at the east side shelter in October 2013, at age 86. Some friends were volunteers and she was interested, though she had never lived with a cat in all her years. “We always had dogs,” she said.
They started her off as a “Happy Cat” volunteer, said Melinda Bean, team leader for the Monday cat crew. “We only let them work with happy cats until they develop their cat sense.”
It wasn’t long before Sander was helping cats that aren’t so happy.
“So many are so afraid,” she said, explaining how she makes the rounds of the community cat rooms, helping the animals get accustomed to being with humans. “I just sit and talk to them, so they’ll get used to it and be adoptable — and get adopted.”
Seeing frightened cats come around and start to purr, and eventually find homes, makes her grateful to be able to help, Sander said. “Some of these cats come sit on your lap and are as sweet as can be! It’s a wonderful thing to know you’re helping.”
“The cats love her,” Bean said of the birthday girl. “She’s a calming influence on them because she will just sit and talk softly to them. She has her scratcher and her cat toys, and she’ll sit and play with them. She has a nice calm demeanor.”
That calm was in full evidence Monday as people crowded around the diminutive volunteer to offer congratulations, among them reporters, photographers, AWD Director Paul Caster and the Monday cat crew.
The volunteers had wanted to celebrate Sander’s birthday, Bean said, because “How often do you get to turn 90 and you’re still an active volunteer? We just think so highly of her. She’s the sweetest, most gracious person and we wouldn’t trade her for a million dollars.”
Sander has lived in Albuquerque since 1951, when her husband took a job at Sandia Labs right out of college. Back then, Menaul was a dirt road, she says.
Her children have moved away, but she enjoys traveling to see family. She just returned from a trip to England and was headed next to Colorado.
When she is not traveling or hosting family, Sander arrives reliably for her Monday morning shift, Bean said. A prolonged illness last year didn’t stop her. “She couldn’t wait to get back.”
When she quit driving recently, Sander found a way to ride in with other volunteers, or get rides with a man who manages an apartment complex she owns.
For the other AWD volunteers, Sander’s commitment speaks to the value of everyone’s contribution.
“It’s the reason we all volunteer,” says Bean. “Because it makes a difference. The thing is, we’re here for the cats, but we’re here for the volunteers, too. It’s a reason to get up in the morning — seeing the difference we make and making the difference that helps animals get adopted.”