Rave: Volunteering with this animal rescue is fantastic

[Ginpanther]

A few years ago I started working with an all-volunteer, no-kill animal rescue that focuses on placing homeless dogs and cats in my community with loving Forever Homes. So far this year we've placed over 88 cats and 9 dogs. In addition to the weekly work I put in at the shelter to care for the cats we have, I was also appointed as the chair of the IT Committee for the organization. In that role I've been able to gather a team of experienced folks who have used their job experience in the IT field to help the organization lower their costs (found them a new web hosting service with a WYSIWYG interface anybody can manage versus the old platform), brought them the ability to accept online donations via PayPal, set up a YouTube channel to promote their cause and also virtualized the shelter's phone line with a cloud PBX provider so they can have a 24x7 answering service that delivers voicemail messages to dog, cat and volunteer coordinators over email instead of paying the local phone company a ridiculous monthly fee to supply dial tone to an answering machine in a volunteer's house.

Every year I also volunteer with their annual community garage sale, an event that generates thousands of dollars to support the cause in a single day by reselling donated items from the community. Since nobody in the organization draws even a penny in salary, that means all of the proceeds go to pay for the feeding, medical care and support of these abandoned animals.

I'm pleased to say that my girlfriend and I have adopted all 4 of our cats from this organization (3 of them have special medical needs). In the last two months I have been taking footage of our homeless cats and learning Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects to create YouTube videos that promote some of our overlooked adoptable animals. I know I will never be an expert in this field but feel that I am gaining new skills and slowly becoming more proficient at the work. I'd love to share some of the videos here (after proper anonymization) and gain feedback from those of you with a lot more experience in this industry than myself. 

In all it feels really damn good to make a difference in my community by putting my industry knowledge to work and stretching to learn new skills with the ultimate goal of helping homeless cats and dogs find homes where they can be loved and cherished forever. This is probably the most rewarding and meaningful thing I have ever done with my life, and I hope that I will continue to grow my skills and help this organization do even better things with more visibility!

[Kinare]

I've always wanted to volunteer, but working nights makes that a tad difficult. Am also quite shy and the rude nature of the receptionist at the ASPCA where I got a cat previously scared me off quite a bit. There's other shelters, I know for sure there's a humane society in the same city, but it takes a lot to convince myself to reach out. My ideal job is playing with kitties all day and helping to rehabilitate ones that maybe have issues trusting people or just need special care. Am quite good at befriending angry kitties. x3 Not sure you can get paid to do that, but being able to do it on even a volunteer basis would be fun.

Edited October 18, 2015 by Kinare

[Ginpanther]

I've always wanted to volunteer, but working nights makes that a tad difficult.

Good on you for wanting to volunteer! You might be surprised at how many community rescues are desperate for people who can give even an hour's worth of time in the morning. I don't know your exact overnight schedule, but if you could roll from work to the shelter afterward I'm pretty sure you would be invaluable.

 the rude nature of the receptionist at the ASPCA where I got a cat previously scared me off quite a bit. There's other shelters, I know for sure there's a humane society in the same city, but it takes a lot to convince myself to reach out. My ideal job is playing with kitties all day and helping to rehabilitate ones that maybe have issues trusting people or just need special care. Am quite good at befriending angry kitties. x3

First: Thank you for adopting a kitty from a shelter, no matter what that organization's nature was! I hope you and the kitty made many wonderful memories together. You have hit it on the head: the ASCPA agent you encountered is not indicative of all the other organizations in your area that are desperate and reliant on volunteers in order to fulfill their mission. I think you've got a great attitude! I originally joined the team of my rescue as somebody who wanted to put his amateur photography skills to use in order to create better profile photos for the animals and it turns out I'm more suited to giving care to those cats and socializing them. That I can put my professional skills to use to benefit the organization as a whole was a big plus! There's nothing wrong, I assure you, with saying "my ideal job is to reach out and play with kitties that have trust issues or just need time." I can speak from experience, your local rescue needs people like you who are willing to come in to the shelter and spend even 30 minutes just talking to animals that are scared, angry or sad because they've been surrendered, have trust issues or are lost.

I hope you'll give volunteering a try with one of your community shelters. I can tell you from experience that the animals will greatly benefit from your involvement.

[Kinare]

I don't know your exact overnight schedule, but if you could roll from work to the shelter afterward I'm pretty sure you would be invaluable.

It might be possible on days I work until 8am, assuming they open no later than 9am that day, so I could get some noms and go play with kitties for an hour or so, but because they're 12hr shifts I'm usually quite tired after work and it's definitely not something I could do if I work that next night. I know I wouldn't have to go every day, but I would still like to be able to go twice a week most of the time. Random work schedule doesn't make planning that easy either. ><

[Ginpanther]

I know I wouldn't have to go every day, but I would still like to be able to go twice a week most of the time. Random work schedule doesn't make planning that easy either. ><

Having somebody show up reliably once a week is welcome with most shelters, but I certainly applaud the idea of a twice-weekly effort. Here's hoping you can figure something out!

[Lever Puller]

Heck yes I love stuff like this. I actually work at a veterinary clinic that works with a local rescue and we just sent a puppy to a foster today who had made it through parvo. I was so excited to be the one to feed her when she started eating again. I also made a deal with one of the 'clinic rescues' (2 yo cat was peeing outside the litter box and the owners wanted her euthanized. Like what) that if she wasn't fostered by the time I moved out, I'd be fostering her.

I can't do much in terms of volunteering 'cause I need to make ends meet, but when I am able to help, I sure as hell do.

I'm also really excited because this last week was Technician Appreciation Week and I got presents even though I'm not fully a tech yet because I count as 'in training'. I'm ngl I wanted to cry lmao

[Ginpanther]

I can't do much in terms of volunteering 'cause I need to make ends meet, but when I am able to help, I sure as hell do.

If you're able to help out from your position the way you describe then I consider that a damn awesome contribution. Lots of shelters would kill for an advocate or any sort of assistance like that.

 (2 yo cat was peeing outside the litter box and the owners wanted her euthanized. Like what)

We have three cats right that were "returned" to us in the span of 2 weeks with that same problem and the same reasoning. These are cats that had been in their homes since the time they were adopted from us 8 years ago! It's really disheartening.

I'm also really excited because this last week was Technician Appreciation Week and I got presents even though I'm not fully a tech yet because I count as 'in training'. I'm ngl I wanted to cry lmao

You're obviously making a really good impression. I think that recognition says worlds about the work you're doing. Keep it up!