A beloved no-kill animal shelter in Point Richmond is once again expressing gratitude at having highly-skilled neighbors.
The Milo Foundation at 220 S. Garrard Blvd. in Point Richmond says a group of animal-loving employees from the Chevron Richmond Technology Center Machine Shop volunteered to repair and improve its kennels.
In 2015, two years after the nonprofit moved to its Point Richmond location, Chevron employees including Michael Long helped install new kennels. Over time, repairs were needed to the rear walls of the kennels from dogs either chewing or clawing through the sheetrock, said John Fonseca, outreach coordinator at The Milo Foundation.
And so Chevron machinists Bob Gare, John Granger, and Bob Schneider recently made repairs to seven of the eight dog kennels that had varying degrees of damage.
“The work involved taking measurements of the various kennels needing repair, cutting stainless steel panels to size, and installing the panels over the damaged areas, including applying sealant all around the edges so moisture would not get behind the panels,” Fonseca said.
It’s not a simple job to do correctly. Thankfully, they had help from skilled volunteers. Bob Gare procured the material and cut the panels to size, and then “rolled the top edge of the material so there would be no sharp edges for the dogs to hurt themselves on,” Fonseca said.
He described the Foundation’s relationship with Chevron employees as “very special.”
“To have folks who have a scientific aspect to them, to have the skills and knowledge to do serious construction projects that need to be done correctly, it’s a value for us,” he said.
He described Long, a consistently impactful volunteer, as well as his wife Deborah as kindhearted, community-minded people. Chevron workers regularly visit the Foundation to help make improvements, including during the company’s annual Volunteer Week. Bob Schneider adopted his family’s dog, “Vince Guaraldi,” at the Foundation, Fonseca added.
Help will be continue to be welcomed in the near future, as the Foundation continues repairs and seeks an expansion of its kennels.
