Sadly this is too often the case for the many animals that eventually find their way to Max­Fund—a no-­kill animal shelter that was founded in Den­ver in 1988. Some of the dogs and cats are strays, some are abandoned, some are given up, but all of them have one thing in common—they desperately need a loving home .   

    In order to achieve the enormous goal of finding a new family for all of their animals, the volunteers at Max­Fund work long hours in tough emotional and physical conditions. They put in the time with no monetary re­ward; though for these tireless vol­unteers, the limitless amount of unconditional love they receive from their “clients” is more than enough.     

     While the MaxFund benefits from the help of numerous volunteers who generously dedicate much time and energy to making the sheter a success, there is one person in particular who is so involved, he knows almost every animal by name.  Matt Adams has volunteered for MaxFund for more than two years—making the shelter publicly known and respected while still maintaining a full-­time job. As the Volunteer Coordinator for MaxFund, Adams organizes all of the volunteer orientations and dog walking training in addition to managing and operat­ing the MaxFund Volunteers Web site. He also updates the pets on Pet  Finder and Pets 911 and runs the online store and eBay auctions for the shelter, along with the merchandise and change donations. As a volunteer, Adams doesn’t get paid a cent from the shelter, but that doesn’t seem to matter because he has found something far more gratifying than a paycheck. 

    “Sometimes there will be an animal that we think will be really tough to find a home for. A dog, for example, that needs a lot of medical attention and emotional train­ing. When we finally find it a loving home, I feel happy to do the work that I do,” he says. With no pay and a high number of animals that need homes, Adams and the rest of MaxFund look to the public to lend a helping hand. “MaxFund is Denver’s only no­kill shelter. We don’t put down animals for any reason, unless it is in their hu­mane interest,” Adams explains. “We spend on average $800 to $1,000 per animal where the average at other shel­ters is around $250. We also don’t have any county or other government grants. We really rely on donations and volunteers to make it work.”