The beauty of Furry Friends (FF) is that we exist everywhere and anywhere! As a virtual charity, it means that as long as our volunteers have a computer and the internet, work can get done and cats can be saved. Take a trip to Toowoomba in regional Queensland and you may run into our HR Team Leader, Kerri!
Kerri first signed on for our HR team in early December 2019. Before she joined us, Kerri was fostering dogs. She stopped after her black Staffy, Rebel, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thankfully, as his name suggests, Rebel fought back against the disease and is now a happy eleven-year-old enjoying life. He also has a brother, a five-month-old brown Staffy named Charlie. Her time as a foster carer lit a passion for animal welfare, and our online nature made us the perfect outlet for Kerri to act upon this. ‘I couldn’t volunteer at a physical location so working with FF virtually was the ideal situation,’ she says.
With a background in Human Resources, working in our HR team was as easy as blinking for her. ‘I have worked at various companies in HR for over 30 years,’ she says. At the moment, Kerri works for Energy Australia as a HR Advisor. How does this help with her work at Furry Friends? In recruitment! Anybody who applies to volunteer with us, and is successful at receiving an interview, will no doubt be speaking to Kerri. When she’s not recruiting or helping new volunteers get settled into their roles, she’s assisting our President with anything that needs to be done.
If she could give new and potential volunteers any advice? ‘It’s a totally different environment working virtually so try not to worry, it does get easier,’ she shares. ‘It’s important to reach out to other team members if you’re not sure on anything. Communication is the most important part of these roles.’
Fun fact: Kerri enjoys solving jigsaw puzzles, reading and travelling.
Kerri first signed on for our HR team in early December 2019. Before she joined us, Kerri was fostering dogs. She stopped after her black Staffy, Rebel, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thankfully, as his name suggests, Rebel fought back against the disease and is now a happy eleven-year-old enjoying life. He also has a brother, a five-month-old brown Staffy named Charlie. Her time as a foster carer lit a passion for animal welfare, and our online nature made us the perfect outlet for Kerri to act upon this. ‘I couldn’t volunteer at a physical location so working with FF virtually was the ideal situation,’ she says.
With a background in Human Resources, working in our HR team was as easy as blinking for her. ‘I have worked at various companies in HR for over 30 years,’ she says. At the moment, Kerri works for Energy Australia as a HR Advisor. How does this help with her work at Furry Friends? In recruitment! Anybody who applies to volunteer with us, and is successful at receiving an interview, will no doubt be speaking to Kerri. When she’s not recruiting or helping new volunteers get settled into their roles, she’s assisting our President with anything that needs to be done.
If she could give new and potential volunteers any advice? ‘It’s a totally different environment working virtually so try not to worry, it does get easier,’ she shares. ‘It’s important to reach out to other team members if you’re not sure on anything. Communication is the most important part of these roles.’
Fun fact: Kerri enjoys solving jigsaw puzzles, reading and travelling.
Written by Matthew Leong for FFARQ.
