Thank you for your interest in volunteering for our organization. We are a 100% volunteer run organization and we rely upon our volunteers to keep the rescue going.
Volunteer Policies:
NO VOLUNTEERS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION AT ALL TIMES
All volunteers must be able to follow direction and adhere to HART policies and guidelines.
As much as we appreciate any help, we do need a certain amount of reliability. You must be able to commit to a weekly schedule and we are unable to train volunteers to work with our animals if they will be staying with us for a short time.
All volunteers and foster homes must be approved by our Volunteer/ Foster Coordinator and cannot begin volunteering or fostering without this approval. Please do not expect to begin the day you turn in the application.
Kennel Attendants: Must commit to a weekly schedule. All cats and kitten condos are scooped, given clean fresh water, and dry food daily. Kittens and some cats are given wet food each day. Follow the direction of the Volunteer Coordinator.
Transport: Volunteers are needed to commit to a weekly schedule with the ability to drive animals to vet appointments and pick them up and brought back to the rescue afterwards. Must have reliable vehicle, valid California Drivers License and Car Insurance.
Data Entry: Enter information into our database.
Fundraising / Grant Writing: We are in need of help with planning, organizing, and implementing fundraising ideas. Also looking for grant opportunities. If you have information about a grant opportunity, or would like to help us find grant opportunities please email us at [email protected] Youth Volunteer Policies:
We cannot allow children under 18 years old to volunteer or socialize the cats at our rescue. Children under 18 years old are encouraged to get involved in other ways. Some examples include holding a lemonade stand and donating the funds to the rescue, or organizing friends and classmates to each donate items to the rescue.
Youth 18 years and older are permitted to volunteer with the rescue if they can prove they have reliable transportation and demonstrate the ability to follow direction. All volunteers must wash their hands with warm soapy water between the handling of each cat or litter.
Youth Under 18 years: Many of you have asked how your children can get involved. At this time we are asking that youth get involved by fundraising through a lemonade stand and/or gathering items from our wishlist to donate to the animals. Items such as small cat beds, kitten and cat food (Chicken Soup for the Soul, Taste of the Wild or Nature’s Domain- costco brand) and cat litter (World’s Best Cat Litter and Cat’s Incredible Cat litter) are all in demand. See our Wishlist Items. Example of Youth Getting involved: In the past, Ruby & Etta of the Dancing Lemon Sisters raised funds for our animal rescue with their very successful Lemonade Stand. These girls have a passion and love for the kitties and are doing their part to make sure the kitties have what they need. Ruby & Etta, we thank you! We are so appreciative of your donations and efforts to improve the lives of the kitties in our rescue. Thank you for thinking of the kitties!
Another aspect of volunteering is being a foster home to animals that need more intense care. We prefer that our foster homes be financially able to provide food for the animal while in their care, we will cover costs of medical care. We need foster homes for: bottle baby kittens, pregnant moms, senior cats needing regular medication. Bottle babies need to be fed every 2 hours and are a 24 hour commitment so best for individuals who work from home or have the ability to bring tiny kittens to work and be kept on a heating pad. Foster homes are expected to have regular interactions with the kittens to aid in their socialization and adoptability as well as maintain constant communication with HART about updates on the health and well being of the animals in their care. Check out these links for information about fostering newborn kittens: http://www.kitten-rescue.com/
Fostering an animal does not mean you decide who adopts the animal and it does not guarantee priority if you decide you want to adopt. All adoptions must be approved by our adoption coordinator.
If you’re interested in volunteering or fostering, please fill out the following document(s) and email to: [email protected]
