As someone who works full time, is enrolled in school, and frequents the gym and meetings it is hard to find time off. So when I was given the opportunity to join some of the men at the Lodge on a service expedition I checked my calendar then cleared my schedule and jumped on the chance to detach for a few days and give back to a good cause. We learned about the legacy of Mission Wolf from its founder, Kent Weber, and about the phenomenal growth that has taken place there over the past 20 years. Kent brought us into the enclosures to meet the wolves face to face and one by one these giant animals, capable of snapping bones with their jaws, came up and licked our faces, happily receiving scratches behind the ears or on their bellies. For the next two days we were out in the heat, at about 10,000 feet above sea level swinging hammers and digging trenches and the analogies started to become clear; we were just like wolves. In our addictions we had left a trail of destruction that seemed almost irreparable and we were judged by many as dangerous, unsalvageable fiends. Then we were saved by people like Kent, who saw beneath our rough exteriors for the scared, confused, helpless dogs we were. Rescuing the doomed is what Mission Wolf is devoted to as is Jaywalker, albeit a few species different.
Gregory Benton
Residential Technician
Jaywalker Lodge
