The non-profit organization A Time 4 Paws (AT4P) has requested the help of volunteers to prepare its new adoption center, which will be located at 594 Cook Rd., in Crossville, Tenn.
Founder and president Karen McMeekin said, “The grand opening will be in late July. We will transfer the animals over to the facility sooner, but, … the end of July is the projected date for the opening for the public to come and experience the new adoption center.”
AT4P’s new center will have 16 heated and air-conditioned indoor/outdoor kennels for dogs. Cats will also live in temperature-controlled rooms with climbing ramps and the ability to move outside into a protected space.
McMeekin said that the AT4P team needs volunteers with a variety of skills to help with the transition to the new location.
To continue work on the Cook Road property, AT4P needs volunteers to donate supplies and gift cards, clean, paint, landscape, do regular lawn care, build fences and pressure wash.
McMeekin said, “We’ll need people who know how to work with chain link fencing, wood fencing, basic carpentry skills – just to donate their time – and we can put them to work.”
“With the nine and a half acres,” said McMeekin, “there is a pond where we have been excavating and cleaning … to create walking trails. The walking trails will be available for our volunteers to walk the dogs that we have in our programs.
“The walking trails will be designed and created with the help of the trails group from Fairfield Glade, so more volunteers donating their time.”
AT4P also wants to line up people who can transport the animals and who can move equipment from the current adoption center to the new one.
McMeekin added, “We are seeking a full-time kennel manager who has a minimum of three years experience managing a kennel to be our adoption center manager on site.”
AT4P has been promoting the no kill philosophy for 10 years in Cumberland County.
“Our goal,” said McMeekin, “is to turn the entire community and county shelter into a no kill community. … With that philosophy, animals lives are saved. Animals are treated humanely. Laws are followed. Laws are improved.
“A Time 4 Paws wants to educate people – educate them on how to become a no kill community, how to take care of animals, how to be kind to them, have them be a part of their family, spay and neuter them, teach the children responsibility about animals, treating them humanely as God’s creatures – not just as discarded, unwanted animals.”
In addition to help with the new adoption center, AT4P needs volunteers with many day-to-day and special activities.
McMeekin said, “We need volunteers for our events. We transport animals to and from adoption events. We have people we need to socialize the animals.
“We have cleaning … opportunities. We have the thrift store which we need people to process items – and very desperately. We need people who can pressure wash on a daily basis. We need people who can mop floors, clean. We just always need an extra hand.
“We need an events coordinator. I need a marketing person, and I also need a grant writer. And all of these are volunteer positions at this point.”
To learn more information about AT4P and the no kill philosophy, the public is invited to a volunteer orientation meeting that McMeeking hosts at the Art Circle Public Library on the second Saturday of every month. The next meeting will be June 13, at 10 a.m.
To volunteer your time and skills, call 931-456-6906.
Donated items for the thrift store and/or the adoption center can be left at both locations. The A Time 4 Paws Thrift Store is located at 1201 West Ave., and the current adoption center is at 463 Old Jamestown Hwy.
The public can also donate pet food and supplies to AT4P’s AniMeals program at the Crossville locations of Kroger and Food City.
Monetary and gift card donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 2982, Crossville, TN 38557.