If you look into Nadine Jebasinski's eyes, you can hardly miss her joy. The REWE Group employee has been working at the animal shelter in her spare time for almost a year and a half, supporting the staff together with other volunteers. There are currently six dogs and two cats living here, and the number is growing. Thanks to the shelter's remote location, they are protected from noise and have the opportunity to roam freely in an outdoor area.

"Helping, supporting, simply this sense of community is nice, because you work together for the animals," she says. How did she get there? "On my own initiative! My husband and I looked to see which animal shelters were near us, where we could help, and then we called here. The reception, the people here, it was all so nice, so friendly, that we knew straight after the first time: 'We'll be back'."

Nadine Jebasinski describes what she likes about volunteering at the animal shelter as follows: "You know you're doing something good. And at the same time you get to know lots of great people - and animals, of course. It's also possible to borrow a dog and take it for a walk. Sometimes we've also taken two or three volunteers and the dogs to the Königsforst and combined it with a picnic."

All people who want to help at the animal shelter are welcome. The hurdle for volunteering is not high: a certificate of competence is "necessary for us to be allowed to walk the dogs. We registered directly for the major certificate of competence. This took time, as it can only be done at the veterinary office, unlike the small certificate of competence, which can be obtained from many vets. We found the information on the Cologne city portal. Once we had the big certificate, we were allowed to get started straight away," says Jebasinski.

For her, getting started means taking on a shift twice a week to help the animal shelter. The volunteers are important here, considering that all afternoon shifts and the entire weekend are taken on exclusively by volunteers. „We do everything. We feed, we go for walks, we get the dogs out of the kennels ourselves, we give medication, we go to the vet, we do the laundry, we clean... Everything that goes with it.“Volunteer Nadine Jebasinski on her typical day at the animal shelter Nadine Jebasinski: "We can also train the dogs a little, for example to travel by car or train, although the dogs often don't associate this with such pleasant moments. This also makes it easier to place them with new owners."

In a way, this placement is also a reward for the employees and volunteers for the work they put in. Especially when, like Nadine Jebasinski, you build up a stronger bond with one animal or another: "We had a dog that was also a long-term resident here, and my husband and I loved him. We would have loved to take him, but unfortunately it didn't work out with our cat at home. But he now has a great home, where we visited him once. Of course, we were a bit worried that he might still recognise us. But he was so happy and it was so nice to see how comfortable he is in his new home and how well he is doing. After that, we went home feeling better."

When it comes to her colleagues on site, Nadine Jebasinski can't stop raving: "It means an awful lot to me and I enjoy working with the animals, for the animals and being together with the other people here at the animal shelter. It's a nice 'we feeling' because we're all actually here for the same reason." For her personally, it's also "a nice balance to work when you're out and about with the dogs and walking them, you're completely with the dogs and can switch off."

The 46-year-old Nadine Jebasinski from Cologne has been working at REWE Group Buying in the PENNY Non Food division as Category Buying Assistant Textile II and has been with the company for almost 20 years.