Volunteer Information

Without our volunteers, Greenhill could not provide its current high level of service to the animals and people of our community!

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Volunteer Spotlight

May 2026

Topher

Meet Topher, our Volunteer of the Month for May! Topher just started volunteering in April 2025 and has already given more than 500 hours of his time to the animals in his first year as a Greenhill volunteer. He takes several shifts in the kennel per week, usually more than 10 hours per week, and splits his time between kennel cleaning and helping with socialization through the Dog Enrichment Program. Before coming to Greenhill, he previously volunteered at a wildlife rehabilitation center in California and later at mass vaccination clinics here in Eugene helping more than 1,000 people get vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
After growing up in the central valley of California, Topher moved to Eugene at age 13 due to his father’s work. He quickly grew to love the area and has lived here ever since. He’s spent most of his career as a freelance videographer wearing many hats including writing, filming, and acting in videos to support in disability advocacy and education. In his spare time, he enjoys a variety of outdoor activities such as rock climbing, kayaking, and biking, along with writing stories and playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. While he doesn’t currently have any pets at home, he’s previously had every type of animal from a dog to a ferret to a tortoise!
 
Topher shares that since he isn’t currently able to have pets of his own, he instead puts that energy toward nurturing Greenhill’s residents. He knows many of the dogs in our care are unsure about being in an unfamiliar environment, and he wants “to show them understanding for that because I think everyone deserves to be heard and understood. After awhile it became more than that though, because now it’s more than just helping the dogs, it’s being part of a team and not just helping the dogs, but helping the entire team to be at its best.”
 
Out of everything Topher has learned over the past year since he started volunteering with us, he says the most valuable lessons have been from the dogs themselves: sometimes small moments like fetching a ball or going for a walk make a dog’s day, and it reminds him to appreciate the little things in his own life. He has particularly fond memories of Benny, a dog who was already a long-term Greenhill resident by the time Topher started volunteering and taught him so much about how to improve in his work with dogs. On the day Benny was adopted, Topher was able to be at the shelter in person to say goodbye, and he says he couldn’t have been happier to be able to help him through the good days and the bad on his journey to find his forever home. In his words, “I consider myself very lucky every day I get to be a part of that team and go home satisfied I made my corner of the world a little brighter. “