Annual Red House Volunteer Day with West Place Animal Shelter

It was all hands on deck when our entire team took to the bucolic rolling fields of Tiverton, Rhode Island, for the Annual Red House volunteer day. This year, we partnered with our friends at West Place Animal Sanctuary, a local non-profit organization dedicated to sheltering and rehabilitating animals that have suffered abuse, cruelty, and neglect, to help get their new chicken building closer to the finish line.

Home to a menagerie of animals, from horses to hogs, alpacas to peacocks, and goats to geese (including one haughty goose named Bruce), the non-profit has had to recently focus its efforts on protecting their winged friends from the spread of the avian flu. This highly contagious disease can be especially devastating to chickens, so building an enclosure where West Place’s flock could spend the winter–the time of year when the virus is most easily spread–became a high priority. Given West Place’s important mission, and with our company full of animal lovers, Red House was excited to pitch in and lend a helping wing–er, hand.

The Red House crew arrived at West Place’s beautiful and pastoral homestead bright and early on the morning of what would turn out to be an 85-degree day, the last gasp of summer (in October, no less). Unphased by the rising mercury, our expert carpenters began divvying up work and doling out tools to the designers, drafters, and marketing coordinators eager to jump in and get dirty.

Within no time, the clanging of hammers and buzzing of saws echoed throughout the farm, punctuated by a chorus of builders’ falsettos singing along to 80’s pop-rock. For most animals, a casual curiosity was piqued; for Bruce, an outsized ire boiled, understandable for a goose. By the end of the day, though still not fully complete, the chicken coop had come a long way. The siding had been painted and installed; cabinets had been situated; PVC sheeting put up (easy for sanitizing); jambs were built; shingles were hung; and countless puns were made. All in all, it was a great team experience for Red House and one we won’t soon forget.

You can read all about West Place Animal Shelter on their website (they’re still looking for help finishing the coop). And if you’d like to work with our team at Red House or have a project you’d like to explore, contact us today!