For most couples, retirement is a chance to take a step back from work, relax, travel and spend time with family. However, Mindy Farber and John Camp aren’t like most couples.

Farber and her husband are the cofounders of Friends of All Critters at Shelters (FOACAS) in Montgomery County and have been bringing dogs from rural areas of Maryland to be adopted locally for the past five years.

“Our mission is to keep dogs out of cages or kennels,” Camp said.

The couple’s mission began with a phone call to a shelter in Cumberland, Maryland, roughly two hours northwest of Montgomery County.

“The dynamics [are] so much different between our area and their area that we have the ability to get dogs adopted where they don’t,” Camp explained. “That’s why a lot of the dogs stay in there for months, even years, in cages.”

“We walk the areas most people don’t want to,” Farber added. “We walk in literally the darkest recesses of the shelters. It’s very sad but we do everything we can.”

For Farber, helping animals find a home was the most natural next step. She previously served on the board of PetConnect and the Montgomery County Humane Society. As a civil rights attorney, she litigated cases overturning discrimination against workers who don’t speak English, transgender employees and people with mental disabilities. Among her many accomplishments, in 2016, she was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame.

“People do different things when they retire,” Farber said. “Some people go to gated communities in Florida. Some people play a lot of golf … We just felt this was the time to do social good.”

Farber attributes her activism to her parents. Despite not belonging to a synagogue growing up, or even today, Farber said her work strongly reflects on her Jewish values. “In our hearts we’re very strongly Jewish,” she said.

From a young age, Farber watched her father, the New York State commander of the Jewish War Veterans, fight against the American Nazi Party.

“My family was made up of social activists,” she said. “I grew up with the proverbial Jewish activism, ‘you must do something.’ My parents every Christmas Day worked at the hospital to relieve people … so they could go home to their families. That was the family I grew up in … My mother was an early feminist.”

For Camp, a former board member and chair of Nonprofit Village in Montgomery County, giving back was always something he thought about.

“I always said once I retired, I’d have some time to give back,” Camp said. “And this is it.”

While Camp converted to Judaism almost two decades ago, the traditions and culture had been a part of his life since marrying his late wife.

“I married a Jewish woman, raised my kids Jewish,” he explained. “Judaism became a part of my life … I enjoyed Jewish values … and was happy that I was accepted.”

FOACAS is founded and operated on Jewish values. But Farber said, “It’s not just adopting out dogs.”

Part of the nonprofit’s mission is to raise money to subsidize veterinarian bills for those who cannot afford them, provide subsidies through a grant to feed dogs in underprivileged counties, and work with a training program to help dogs that are overlooked or have specific needs get trained and adopted.

“It’s easy to write a check and give money,” Camp said. “I think that’s what most people do. But to really walk the walk and [help hands-on] is something different.”

Not only are Farber and Camp embracing the concept of tikkun olam, to repair the world, but they work to pass their values down to the next generation.

“We work with a number of bar mitzvah kids,” Farber said. “We really — from a very early age — try to get kids to start thinking about that animals are living creatures and they need help.”

She added she has seen a shift in how society thinks of their pets.

“There’s a verb that we didn’t have growing up and that is to ‘rehome.’ When we were growing up, you had a dog … and that was your dog for its lifetime,” Farber explained. “We get calls all the time to take in animals. Two this morning. Two yesterday. Sometimes 10 [calls]. I think our biggest challenge is finding homes for them.”

The couple emphasized that many pet owners fall into hard times and can no longer financially support their pet. They have had people bring the dog of a family member who passed away. “We’ve had immigrants in Montgomery County walk literally a mile and a half to reach us with a dog in their hand because they’re getting harassed by ICE,” Farber said.

“It’s incredibly upsetting,” she said. “We do the best we can do [to help].”

FOACAS is working to grow its operation to be able to take in more dogs and raise more money. “We’ve done a great job but we have to do it better,” said Camp.

Farber and Camp are thinking about how their organization can be sustained to continue its impact when they are no longer able to lead it. For them, that means building a legacy.

“We’d like to focus to be an organization that survives Mindy and John, and that’s where we’re taking it,” Camp added.

mresnicow@midatlanticmedia.com