Mike Thomas of Jim Thorpe, joined a group of 27 volunteers to assist at animal shelters in Ritchie, Braxton and Clay counties in West Virginia for a week in May. They provided shelter repair and assistance in building kennels, doghouses and exercise yards.

The program was funded by a grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation and Animal Planet's

R.O.A.R. program and is an outreach venture of Animal Lifeline, a non-profit, all-volunteer animal welfare organization based in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania and sponsors a club at Delaware Valley College.Thomas is a senior at Delaware Valley College, Doylestown, majoring in animal science. He plans to pursue a career in veterinary microbiology.