I'm one piece of the CAVE puzzle!

Cameron Brownfield
Major:  Business Information Systems/German
Hometown:  Yuba City, CA
Class:  Junior

CAVE'S Animal Connections program debuted in spring 2010 and Cameron was one of its first volunteers.  When he heard about the Animal Connections program in a CAVE class talk, his first thought was, "I love animals and I missed my cat, so I figured this would be the perfect program for me." The program has grown from 10 volunteers that first semester to 40 volunteers, and Cameron has been an integral part of that growth.  He is in his second semester as a group leader for Animal Connections and finds his job to be very rewarding.

Volunteers are trained by Butte Human Society (BHS) on techniques for handling the shelter cats and dogs in order to help train and socialize them.  As Cameron explains, this socialization "improves the quality of life for the animals by providing them with more human contact, and it increases their chances of being adopted."  In addition to training the dogs, volunteers get to spend time in the play yard with the dogs off leash and have one kennel cleaning shift a month.  CAVE volunteer efforts are also combined with those of other BHS volunteers from the local community.  Their joint service is invaluable to the successful operation of the Butte Humane Society.

Students from all majors are welcome at CAVE.  Coming from the College of Business himself, Cameron points out that, "CAVE has more business and science majors than we've ever had.  I'm one piece of the CAVE puzzle.  There are 80-90 of us who all work together as a team to complete the puzzle and help the community."

In addition to his commitment to community service, Cameron is keen on sustainability.  His ultimate goal for CAVE - to go paperless.  He'd love to see all volunteer applications, reference checks, and other volunteer records managed electronically.  "We have filing cabinets everywhere full of binders with tons of paperwork." Cameron hopes to make all that disappear.  He has been brainstorming with key CAVE staff and the AS Director of Information Technology to determine the best course of action to achieve this goal.

In  Cameron's words: Here's why you should be involved with CAVE:
 

• You get to meet so many people, both staff and volunteers.
• You improve your communication skills through class talks and tabling.
• You can earn three units of HCSV credit if you're on CAVE staff.
• Community service looks great on your resume.
• You get to make a difference.  You can improve a program or even create a new one.
• CAVE makes you smile more!