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LIMESTONE, Maine, May 06, 2024 – Public Service Recognition Week is a time dedicated to honoring the men and women serving our nation as federal, state, county, and local government employees.
This year, during the week-long celebration, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service is taking a unique approach to show appreciation for our staff. Each day of the week, DFAS will spotlight a different employee, sharing their stories and contributions to work and community that show our integrity, service, and innovation. These features aim to not only recognize the hard work and dedication of these individuals but also to inspire and educate the public about the critical roles they play in the functioning of government operations. Join us as we highlight the unsung heroes behind the scenes at DFAS during Public Service Recognition Week.
Rose Fraser
By day, Fraser is the Division Chief for U.S. Transportation Command, where she’s been for three of her 18-year career in Limestone; however, in her personal time, she is a bit of a superhero to some four-legged friends in her area.
“I went to adopt a cat,” Fraser said about her first encounter with the Central Aroostook Humane Society. “I said, ‘Hey if I can help you out with Facebook or marketing,’ but before I knew it, they realized I had an accounting degree, so I’m the treasurer on their board,” Fraser explained.
That was more than nine years ago. Now, Fraser works with payroll, accounts payables, accounts receivables and taxes.
“Some months it’s less than ten hours of my time but when we have fundraisers, etcetera, it can be more than 15 hours,” said Fraser.
Fraser’s team is quick to dote on her and share her amazing achievements.
“The shelter is dedicated to rescuing unwanted, abandoned, or stray animals and Rose’s work with the rescue center has directly contributed to the improvement of the animals’ quality of life and the successful adoption of many of them to good and loving homes,” her work team shared.
In addition to bookkeeping for the humane shelter, Fraser is a key member of the team who hosts multiple fundraisers throughout the year, without which their budget couldn’t support their tremendous community outreach.
“Toast to the animals is an annual event held in mid-April that we just wrapped up,” Fraser said. She puts 80 plus hours of prep into this event.
“It’s basically a social with a silent auction, where we have 90-150 items for bidding. We serve food and drinks and usually bring in $10,000-18,000 from the roughly 125-200 [people] who attend the event,” Fraser explained.
Another unique fundraiser for the organization Fraser is excited to share about is Paws for the Cause.
“Jordan’s Way partnered with us to do a live broadcast from the shelter on social media platforms to raise money,” Fraser explained. “Because it’s social media, we had donations come in from all over the country, which was pretty cool.”
If she wasn’t busy enough with the fundraising side of her volunteerism, Fraser embarked on a new chapter in grant writing in the hopes of updating CAHS’s aging facility.
“Building a brand-new shelter, because repairing the current shelter just wasn’t cost effective,” Fraser explained. “It’s almost a million-dollar project for the shelter to meet all the requirements we need to have in place. As a board, we have written and submitted a lot of grants, compiled, and submitted the operational and project budgets and numerous documentation request. We have been very fortunate and received several grants,” she added. “Our largest grant was for $200,000.”
Working full-time, and with all these initiatives, it’s not hard to believe that even Fraser admits she’s going full throttle.
“It’s been one of the busiest years I’ve had with the shelter. We have also had money left to the shelter in wills from people who have passed away, but that also must go through probate and other processes, so that takes time,” Fraser explained. “Without the generosity and support of the community through their donations building the new shelter would not be possible.”
Though the majority of the shelter occupants are typical house pets like dogs and cats, Fraser pointed out that they also, “sometimes have rabbits, we have had guinea pigs, birds, mice, but no big animals.”
“Sometimes, I’ve seen us have 20 dogs and over 100 cats,” Fraser said. “COVID cut the numbers down some because people were home, and we adopted a lot of animals out, but now that people are back to work, it’ll be interesting to see how many of those come back to us,” she added.
The CAHS staff does get involved with free spay and neuter clinics to try and control the animal population, even partnering with a traveling doctor to help the group help their community. Speaking of community, they not only give, but receive as well.
This winter, the Can-Am Crown International sled dog race 2024 was cancelled because of no snow.
“The organization brought all the dog food down to us,” Fraser said. “That was extremely kind and a huge help.”
Rose has two cats, Tieka and Mieka. “I adopted them at the same time, one was 13 weeks old, and the other one was just barely old enough to be taken from the mother. They are terrors on two feet, but I love them.” Fraser said. That’s where this all started.
“My husband Todd, who also works at DFAS Limestone, will jump in when I need him to.” Fraser has friends and family members who will jump in to help with events too. She considers herself lucky to be in great company with an amazing organization, but it’s not hard to see that CAHS is also very lucky to have her.
For more information, you can visit the Central Aroostook Humane Society website, www.centralaroostookhumane.org, to get updates and learn more about Rose and her amazing work there.
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.06.2024 12:37 |
| Story ID: | 470426 |
| Location: | LIMESTONE, MAINE, US |
| Hometown: | LIMESTONE, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Celebrating Service: Public Service Recognition Week at DFAS - Rose Fraser, by Michelle Young, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
