Dear Lake Lowell Animal Rescue friends,

We have written and rewritten this post so many times. We have come to accept that there’s no way to accurately convey how we are feeling right now. Even if we could use all the words in the world, they could not come close to being enough.

Longtime Lake Lowell Animal Rescue volunteer Serena Bennett lost her life in a scuba-diving accident on Sunday, May 18. Almost everyone who has interacted with LLAR to any significant extent during the last four plus years has certainly met Serena, and we are absolutely gutted over this shocking news.

Serena was only 21 years old, had just recently graduated from college, and had her whole life ahead of her. While many college students spend their extra days and moments partying, hanging out with their friends, or getting into mischief, Serena spent what literally seems like every single extra moment giving all her time and energy to Lake Lowell Animal Rescue and the animals that we rescue here. She has been here almost every single day for more than four years. There hasn’t been even one large rescue project that we can remember that Serena wasn’t heavily involved with.

Serena was utterly fearless. She crawled into tight spaces under houses trying to save kittens and dug through indescribable, disgusting debris to rescue cats and kittens in every kind of unimaginable situation we have encountered. Late nights; early mornings; long, long days without end, again and again for years, she has been there for the animals and for us.

Although Serena, at a young age, started out simply helping us clean at the rescue, she soon showed her intense dedication and moved into administrative positions as well. She played a core role in planning and running all our events. She was always the first to volunteer to help transport foster animals; to drive to the airport to pick up a dog we had saved from a euthanasia list and was being flown in to Boise; facilitate meet-and-greets for animals who were meeting their new families for the first time; as well as to assist with all of the daily, boring, nitty-gritty cleaning that comes with rescue work. Serena fostered cats, kittens, dogs, and lots and lots of rabbits and chickens—and everything in between. But more than anything she did, we knew her as our friend. The devastation we are feeling right now cannot possibly be described.

Serena, to say you will be missed doesn’t even come close to covering it. You made a real difference in so many lives—both human and animal. Your great big smile; the joyful look on your face every time you saw a new kitten or rabbit we saved; the way you always jumped in first to help us carry things, transport animals and supplies, dive into every crazy rescue operation we undertook, facilitated adoption meets, unload supplies, or clean out litter boxes and cages or to wash walls (and SO much more) will never, ever be forgotten. You remembered our birthdays every year and always showed up with cupcakes or ice cream. You knew that because of how busy we all are, we sometimes think of food for ourselves as an afterthought; so you not only cared about the animals but also about us. You showed up with our favorite food or snacks more times than we can count. This kind of selflessness is incredibly hard to find, but you, Serena, had it in spades.

Above all, please keep Serena’s family in your thoughts. No matter how awful we at the rescue are feeling, it doesn’t hold a candle to what her family is going through right now. Every day counts. We should all strive to live a life that makes a difference, that physically and tangibly improves the lives of those who need help the most—the vulnerable, the left behind, those who can never repay us. That is a life of value, and Serena embodied all of it. She lived a life that mattered, and she selflessly gave of her time, love, and compassion.

Serena, you will never be forgotten. Not only did you make a difference for so many animals, you made an indelible impact on LLAR and each one of us who knew you. We absolutely will not be the same without you.

We are working on ways to honor Serena’s memory going forward—something we are currently having trouble fathoming. Please be patient with us as we navigate this. We will work on catching up with missed messages and applications over the next few weeks. Her family has given us permission to post videos and photos of Serena interacting with animals she loved that are still available for adoption. Please follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram if you’d like to see and “meet” Serena periodically though our posts.

Thank you for your support.

Melissa, Vanessa and the many volunteers and friends of Serena