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From the Rota Coastline, 23 October 2008 edition
STORY BY REBECCA ROSE;
photo by Karyn Sigurdsson
Members of Naval Station Rota’s First Class Petty Officer’s Association (FCPOA) volunteered their time by painting, cleaning out cages, and caring for the animals at Rota Animal Welfare League (RAWL) Oct. 19.
The FCPOA was out there to show that people can do more than just adopt the animals, they can donate their time and energy.
“RAWL is where people in our community come to adopt their pets,” said Electronics Technician 1st Class (AW/FPJ) D.J. Weakley, FPCOA president. “A lot of the Association members are pet owners and since the facility is not funded we have to do our part to keep it going.”
RAWL is a non-funded, non-profit organization that takes in stray animals, preparing them for adoption into families within the Rota community. The facility is staffed entirely by volunteers. Daily, RAWL needs people to help with caring for the animals, cleaning and donating time, money, or supplies.
“Anybody can come by, even if they’re not a signed up volunteer,” said Jill
Brockavich, RAWL president. “We have a lot of people who can’t have animals stop by to play with them, which is great because it socializes the animals, making them more comfortable with humans and it prepares them for adoption.”
However, not everyone has the time to come to the facility and take care of the animals. On Oct. 19, a couple stopped by the facility and donated the adoption fee of $75 for the next person who adopts a pet.
“We already have our allotted amount of pets,” said Krystal Gomez. “Still, we
wanted to give someone else the opportunity to adopt from RAWL.”
Brockavich encourages everyone to come out and volunteer for RAWL from
single Sailors to families and children. Even military members who are here on a temporary basis who cannot necessarily have pets can help out RAWL, while benefitting from animal companionship.
“People who are here on a temporary basis can volunteer their time or just play with the animals,” said Brockavich. “It gives them the benefit of having a pet and helping others.”
To find out how you can lend RAWL a helping hand visit their website at
www.rawlpets.org or send an e-mail to rawlpets@gmail.com.
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Every year, MWR sets up tables around Mimosa Court and hands out candy to the younger trick-or-treaters on Halloween. The FCPOA did it last year and we will be participating again this year. We will be in costume in front of one of the housing units. Decorations are encouraged; so if you have an idea for decorations please bring it up ASAP. We will also need volunteers to man the candy. Email roger.weakley@eu.navy.mil to volunteer, give ideas, or for more information.
We will be getting together to assist the Rota Animal Welfare League (RAWL) with renovating their facilities. There will be burgers and dogs for the workers as well as drinks. All are welcome to participate. We begin at 1100 on the 18th.
If you or someone you know is qualified and licensed to drive the Euro style busses, their help could be used to transport people from the base to Hacienda Las Beatillas in Puerto and also return them to base afterwards on Friday night October 10th. The ticket into the Ball will be provided for these volunteers. We would like to have at least three drivers.
Your support is appreciated.
MWR is having an “End of Summer Bash” next Thursday, 28 Aug 08 from 1700-2000. They are looking for volunteers to help out and would like us to run an activity. There will be bouncers that need attendants, a parent/child obstacle course, face painting, and more. If you can think of an activity that you think would be fun for families, I would be happy to pass it along to MWR because they have a lot of resources and can set up just about anything.
Please let me know if you would like to volunteer for this event and I will send you more information.
National Night Out, an event that promotes safety awareness and crime and drug prevention, was held on 5 August 2008. The RFCA registered kids with the “Identi-kid” booth, fingerprinting children on base and providing their families a tool to keep on record with pertinent information in the event something would happen to their children. It was a lot of fun and was a great opportunity to show our support for the community here in Rota. Thanks to MA1 Dave Farnsworth for organizing this event and to the volunteers that helped out!
