{"id":16590,"date":"2026-04-02T00:35:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T00:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/?p=16590"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:59:14","slug":"lending-a-helping-paw-auggies-project-volunteers-at-local-dog-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2026\/04\/02\/lending-a-helping-paw-auggies-project-volunteers-at-local-dog-shelter\/","title":{"rendered":"Lending a helping paw: Auggies Project volunteers at local dog shelter\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"dslc-theme-content\"><div id=\"dslc-theme-content-inner\">\n<p>By Maddie Summers &#8217;27, staff writer&nbsp;and Chris Timasonravichkit &#8217;27, video editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video controls src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/Auggies-Project-La-Vie-Website-2.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Since its&nbsp;inception&nbsp;in 2025, Auggies Project has been regularly volunteering with Davis Dog Farm, a local rescue organization.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Katelynn Hammel, a sophomore speech-language pathology major, founded the club last year with Vice President Dylan Knisely with the intent to spread awareness about adoption and volunteering.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur goal was just to expand and get people more aware of the aspects of rescuing a shelter dog or any type of dog and getting LVC students involved in the therapy of cleaning, helping and volunteering,\u201d Hammel said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knisely said that the club helps students feel connected to their furry friends, whom they may be missing back at home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI feel like most people on campus have a pet at home that they miss,\u201d he said. \u201cThat&#8217;s part of the&nbsp;reason why&nbsp;Katelynn and I&nbsp;came up with&nbsp;the idea for&nbsp;Auggies&nbsp;Project. We just missed our dogs so much, and I know a lot of people feel the same way. There are a lot of dogs that walk around campus, but&nbsp;that&#8217;s&nbsp;pretty much it; there&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;any other clubs that do what we do.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During these events, the group works with other volunteers to clean the facility and take the dogs outside for some exercise.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUsually, what we do is we\u2019ll come in, and we\u2019ll clean all the kennels, deep clean, so scrub everything down, wash their beds&nbsp;and&nbsp;replace things,\u201d Hammel said.&nbsp;\u201cThey&#8217;ll take the dogs out on their walks with other volunteers so they can come back to a clean reset area.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brenda Beegle, the building manager, explained the history behind Davis Dog Farm&nbsp;and&nbsp;its mission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJenea Davis, the owner, has been fostering and working with rescues for 20 years,\u201d she said.&nbsp;\u201cShe has a love of&nbsp;animals,&nbsp;a real big&nbsp;passion. Five years ago, she started this rescue. She started in the house, and we transitioned from the house to the building a year ago.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volunteer work is the lifeblood of Davis Dog Farm. They rely on participants to help take the dogs for walks, feed&nbsp;them&nbsp;and clean their kennels.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jenn, a volunteer who started with the organization last year, spoke about her favorite part of volunteering and what makes it all worthwhile.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cObviously, everyone&#8217;s favorite part is the dogs,\u201d she\u00a0said. \u201dLoving\u00a0the dogs, making\u00a0sure\u00a0they&#8217;re\u00a0well taken care of, and getting\u00a0a good home.\u00a0It&#8217;s\u00a0great for young people to see\u00a0what&#8217;s\u00a0being done in the community to help the animals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hammel sees a bright future for the club and has&nbsp;hopes&nbsp;that its mission will continue long after she graduates.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope to continue the club beyond me and Dylan being here,\u201d Hammel said.\u00a0\u201cI would like to graduate, eventually come back, and see that people are not only remembering Auggie, but their own animals. I hope\u00a0the volunteering,\u00a0the awareness,\u00a0the events\u00a0and\u00a0the donations\u00a0can continue beyond when\u00a0we&#8217;re\u00a0here. That would be amazing,\u00a0and\u00a0that&#8217;s\u00a0my goal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students interested in joining&nbsp;Auggies&nbsp;Project are encouraged to reach out to Katelynn Hammel or Dylan Knisely with questions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to learn more about Davis Dog Farm or are interested in becoming a volunteer, visit their website at<a href=\"https:\/\/davisdogfarm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;https:\/\/davisdogfarm.com\/<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>By Maddie Summers &#8217;27, staff writer&nbsp;and Chris Timasonravichkit &#8217;27, video editor Since its&nbsp;inception&nbsp;in 2025, Auggies Project has been regularly volunteering with Davis Dog Farm, a local rescue organization.&nbsp; President Katelynn Hammel, a sophomore speech-language pathology <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2026\/04\/02\/lending-a-helping-paw-auggies-project-volunteers-at-local-dog-shelter\/\" title=\"Lending a helping paw: Auggies Project volunteers at local dog shelter\u00a0\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","6":"category-campus-news","7":"category-local-news","8":"post_format-post-format-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16590"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16847,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16590\/revisions\/16847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}