Sometimes volunteering starts with something as simple as asking a question.
For Christie, that question changed far more than she ever expected.
She would often see people walking dogs while she was out on her own walks. One day, she finally stopped and asked who they were and what they were doing.
They were volunteers with Labradors and Friends.
Christie decided to become a dog walker.
What she found was much more than a way to spend time with rescue dogs.
She found a sense of purpose she hadn’t realized was missing.
The dogs were incredible, but Christie quickly discovered something else: the people were pretty special, too. Before long, she was helping organize adoption events throughout Orange County, and volunteering with LAF became an important part of her life.
A Move Couldn’t Take Her Away From LAF
In 2024, Christie moved to Arizona. She looked for another rescue organization where she could volunteer, but nothing felt quite the same.
Labradors and Friends had become more than a rescue.
It had become family.
So when the opportunity came to help remotely as an Application Coordinator, Christie jumped at it.
Today, she helps prospective adopters through the application process and works to connect families with dogs who may be the right match for them.
And when Christie travels back to California, she still makes time to meet the dogs whenever she can. Knowing them personally — their personalities, quirks and needs — helps her do an even better job helping applicants find the right dog.
And there is one LAF dog Christie will never forget.
Then There Was Bradley
Bradley’s journey with Labradors and Friends began in one of those ways you couldn’t make up.
One of our volunteers was camping when they woke up to discover a dog sitting in a chair at their campsite.
Someone had abandoned him.
The dog was Bradley — an incredibly sweet Pit Bull who needed somewhere safe to go. The volunteer reached out and asked if Labradors and Friends could help.
We said yes.
Bradley became a LAF dog.
But finding his forever family wouldn’t happen quickly.
Bradley was a wonderful dog, but his prey drive toward smaller animals meant he needed a particular kind of home. Again and again, he was overlooked.
Days became months.
Months became years.
Bradley waited nearly two years.
One Post Changed Everything
Christie never stopped seeing the dog behind the wait.
In 2022, she posted a photo of Bradley on Instagram.
A former coworker saw it.
She reached out to Christie and asked about him. Christie told her all about the sweet senior who had been waiting so long for someone to choose him.
And then, on Christmas Eve, Bradley finally got the gift everyone at LAF had been hoping for.
He went home.
Today, Bradley is living his best life with a family of his own.
For Christie, knowing she played even a small part in getting him there means everything.
But Bradley’s story also shows something we see over and over again in rescue.
One volunteer found him.
Another kept advocating for him.
Someone shared his photograph.
Someone else saw it.
And eventually, someone said yes.
That’s rescue.
And it’s why the people behind Labradors and Friends matter just as much as the dogs whose lives they help change.
Christie says it best:
“For me, Labradors and Friends is so much more than a rescue. It is a community, a purpose, and most importantly, family.