In January, Rescue U went to Guthrie, OK, to rebuild the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter, which had been destroyed by a tornado in May 2011. Our volunteers repaired the roof and kennels, built new storage and exercise pens, added a meet-and-greet area and more. (Read our online diary from the trip.)

Four months later, what kind of impact has the Rescue U visit had on the shelter? "It has reinforced our community to become more proactive when it comes to the animals," shelter manager and animal control superintendent Suzy Brown tells us. "The news around the [project] really raised public awareness."

The visit also improved morale among shelter staff. "Rescue U has renewed a broken shelter. [It's] given us a bright tomorrow and hope for the future," Brown says. "It is a gift that will continue to give for many years to come, and that is truly exciting. We are truly grateful."

To spread the word about the great impact a handful of dedicated volunteers can have on homeless pets and the people who care for them, the Petfinder Foundation is launching a new webisode series about Rescue U. We're kicking it off with a look back at the Guthrie trip and we'll cover our upcoming projects throughout the year. Check out the first installment after the jump, and stay tuned for more!

Donate to support Rescue U's shelter-rebuilding projects.

The final two days of our Rescue U trip at the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter in Oklahoma were a lot of work. Volunteers completed the outdoor cat enclosure, a metal storage building and the pergola over the new meet-and-greet pens we built earlier in the week. We put the finishing touches on the painting, the exercise pens and the roofs over the outdoor dog kennels. The brand new stainless steel cat cages we ordered arrived the final day and were installed.

You could see the appreciation in shelter manager and animal control officer Suzy Brown's eyes every time she saw another completed project. "To put it into one word: WOW," she says. "It was amazing. There was immediate progress. It was like watching a movie on fast forward. Any time you take a cat or dog outside to play with them, it is so great, and with the new exercise areas, everyone gets yard time now."

This week the Petfinder.com Foundation's Rescue U volunteers have been hard at work repairing the damage dealt to the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter by an F5 tornado in May 2011. (Watch a video of our first day in Guthrie here.)

As the week comes to an end, the transformation of the shelter is almost complete, but the impact it will have on the community is just beginning.

This week has been an inspiring experience. Working through their holiday break, the student volunteers are in high spirits. Two local news stations picked up the story (News 9 and KFOR) and the community is rallying behind Rescue U: Enormous meals have been donated to keep the students fed, pet food and beds are coming in from local donors, and city employees regularly stop by the site to see the progress and cheer the kids on.

Watch our second video update and see our progress after the jump.

Hello and happy New Year! This New Year's Eve I traveled to Guthrie, OK, to help rebuild the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter as part of the Petfinder.com Foundation's next week-long Rescue U Trip -- our program that sends college students to repair and rebuild shelters in need.

On May 24, 2011, the Guthrie shelter was hit by an F5 tornado (the most powerful kind), leveling one of its two buildings and significantly damaging the outdoor kennels and other infrastructure.

In the seven months since, shelter staff have been struggling to rebuild and care for the animals at an offsite temporary shelter. FEMA aided in rebuilding some of the shelter, but the money ran out and the project stalled.

Thanks to funding from the Animal Rescue Site, Rescue U is here to finish the job and make sure the employees of the Guthrie shelter can function at full capacity by Sunday, Jan. 8. Then the shelter will once again be able to open its doors to help the people and pets of Guthrie, OK.

After the jump, watch our first video update from the trip.