Meet Phyllis – Southeastern Guide Dogs Volunteer
Phyllis plays with two yellow Labrador puppies on a red tricycle.
“Oh, golly, I don’t like to talk about me. I just like to stay behind the scenes and help wherever I can. I’ve always loved creatures—that’s what I call animals—and they love us. Maybe it’s because of St. Francis of Assisi; the patron saint of animals; he’s always been my hero. My main thing is being helpful to people, to animals, to have a giving heart, and to have a cheerful heart in volunteering. I have eight organizations I volunteer for. From animals to hunger to Girl Scouts, I never know what’s going to cross my path and I just enjoy doing things. Mainly being helpful and giving.
My late husband Norman and I started volunteering over 20 years ago. Whenever there were new litters, I took pictures of the puppies at just a few weeks old in Norman’s hands. In those days it was a variety of breeds, so I had entire collections of puppies in Norman’s hands. So when they did the artwork in the puppy nursery years ago, they surprised me. The artist collaborated with the staff and painted a picture of Norman’s hands holding a puppy, on one of the walls.
I took some pictures of the artwork and had some tee shirts made. Norman passed away in 2005.”
Phyllis sits on a bench with one of the tshirts she made with the artwork of her late husband’s hands holding puppies.
