Events & Information

GDRI Volunteer of the Month

We thought that you might like to get to know us. There are a host of volunteers who selflessly dedicate their time and enery to Great Dane Rescue Inc.

Some of our volunteers home foster our Danes, others help transport our Danes to their forever homes and others perform home visits and help out at fundraising events. We have volunteers that match our Danes to their perfect forever home and others that help out with behaviour issues. Volunteers come from all walks of life but what they all have in common is a love for Great Danes.

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This month we're featuring Deb Brown. Deb is the current President and does a myriad of jobs for GDRI.

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How long have you volunteered with GDRI?
I think that it’s been four or five years.

What are your roles in GDRI (past & present)?
I started out fostering but found that it wasn’t for me. Then I moved onto volunteer recruitment and looking after the website, doing the newsletter and helping out with merchandise. I was invited to sit on the Board and now I’m President.

What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as a GDRI volunteer?
Increasing our volunteer base – particularly the number of foster homes that we have available for our Danes.

Why did you decide to volunteer with GDRI?
I saw a note on the website that GDRI needed foster homes. I love my Danes and thought that maybe I could be of some help.

What is the hardest part of volunteering?
Keeping up with the e-mails ;) That and the Danes. It breaks my heart when I see a senior come into rescue that’s been tossed out by their family. I always think that we’re meeting them on the worst day of their lives. Fortunately, we have extremely loving volunteers that open their homes to these dogs and soon enough, they’re healthy and happy.

What was the most unexpected part of volunteering?
The friends that I’ve made – I imagine that we’ll be friends forever.

What do you do outside of your rescue work?
I work for the City of Toronto. I’m the Manager of Communications Planning and Research in the Strategic Communications division.

What’s one little known fact about you?
I love to decorate homes. Nothing makes me happier than moving into a new home – it’s a blank slate that I can start to decorate.