Thank you for your interest in volunteering at FCRSPCA!
We are a 100% volunteer-run group! We have zero paid staff!
From looking after the dogs to fostering to assisting with events – we need YOU! An hour or two of your time weekly is greatly appreciated!! Taking care of our dogs is a team effort, and without the help of our volunteers, we would not exist! Come join our shelter family as we work to find all of our four-legged friends their furever homes! Make a difference with as little as 1-2 hours per week!
Our volunteers come from all walks of life and skill sets, and share a commitment to not only helping animals in need, but educating the community in the hope that one day our services will not be needed. A willingness to learn, an open mind, and a BIG heart are all you need!
Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age (younger individuals 13-15 are encouraged to apply for our RASE Program) – if under 18, the volunteer must have guardian consent in the form of a signed waiver and contract. All volunteers must have a completed application, volunteer agreement, and liability release form on file and have attended orientation, as well as training if working with the animals. Because of the time and resources that it takes to train each volunteer, we ask for a commitment of at least 6 months time to the shelter.
We are training for all shifts, but our greatest need is help on weekday mornings (7-9am). We always need help with our fundraisers and community outreach – scroll down for a list of our volunteer opportunities! We need you as we are working on raising funds to take care of our animals and construct our new facility so we can help all of our furry friends! Thank you!
Steps to Becoming a Volunteer
All volunteers with animals at home will be asked to show proof of vaccination (rabies and distemper for cats and ferrets, rabies and 5-in-1 for dogs). Please have this information available to send to our Onboarding Coordinator.
- Submit an online volunteer application via Better Impact
- Complete a phone interview (~15 minutes)
- Attend a virtual orientation
- Complete 2 virtual trainings and 2 in-person training sessions
- Consent to a background check
- Sign a Code of Conduct and waiver
- If under 18, waiver must be co-signed by a guardian
Volunteer Responsibilities
- Adhere to the Code of Conduct (read it here)
- Complete assigned duties effectively
- Communicate with your fellow volunteers**
FCRSPCA does not accept individuals as volunteers who have a history of animal-related crimes, domestic or child abuse, or any other violent or fraudulent crimes.
A volunteer at FCRSPCA is Caring, Adaptable, Reliable, and Engaged!
As a 100% volunteer-run shelter, FCRSPCA’s volunteers do it all. One person can’t do everything, but everyone can do something!
Does this sound like you? We look forward to meeting you soon!
Volunteer Opportunities
Office Wiz
Duties include, but are not limited to: Assisting customers, data entry, answering phones, filing, assisting with newsletters and reporting, stuffing envelopes, writing thank-you notes.
In other words, all of the super important non-animal stuff that nobody wants to do but is critical to FCRSPCA’s success.
Board of Directors
These dedicated individuals shape the policies and guidelines of the shelter, while ensuring that the shelter is financially sound so we can continue to help animals well into the future. FCRSPCA has a working board, so many of our Board members volunteer in multiple capacities.
We invite anyone who wants to get more involved to join us for a Board meeting!
Fostering
Give a temporary loving home and some space on your couch for some of our animals who do not do well in a shelter environment. Foster application and home visits are required; meet and greet mandatory if there are other animals in the house.
Fun-draising and Events
FCRSPCA’s Fundraising Team is responsible for putting on the best events in the area while raising funds that are critical to our Mission.
Duties include, but are not limited to: Assisting with donation procurement within the community, assisting in setting up and staffing fundraisers. The Team meets every other month specifically to discuss fundraisers and events.
This is extremely important as we not only depend on fundraising to pay our bills, but we’re also raising money to build our new facility.
Maintenance Team
These folks keep the shelter and yard safe and warm for the entire FCRSPCA family!
Duties include maintaining the kennels, yard, and fence, fixing things that break (or get chewed on), replacing lights, and making sure shelter equipment is maintained and functioning.
Volunteers on this team should be able to lift 25 pounds.
Donations and Supplies Team
FCRSPCA is dependent on donations to feed the animals, pay the vet bills, and keep the lights on!
Our Supplies Team helps us organize drives with various community organizations and keeps everything organized so that nothing lovingly donated goes to waste. This Team is also instrumental in organizing our Community Food Pantry once we have enough to meet our community’s needs.
Volunteers on this team should be able to comfortably lift 25 pounds, although you will often be tossing around 40-50# bags of dog food.
Light Duty Shelter Worker - Animal Care
These are our volunteers who want to help on shifts but may not necessarily be able to handle all the dogs at the shelter.
Our Light Duty volunteers will always be working with a shift runner. Volunteers that are under 18 are allowed in the yards with the dogs only if accompanied by a shelter worker.
Duties include, but are not limited to: cleaning front kennels (if physically able), dishes, laundry, organizing, preparing food, answering phones.
For those who have limited mobility, many of our shelter assistants are able to help with the never-ending laundry and dishes without kennel cleaning or handing animals.
Shelter Worker - Animal Care
This is the level that all of our volunteers begin at.
Shelter workers have all the duties of a light duty shelter worker, but also assume the following duties, which include but are not limited to: feeding the kids, administering medications, walking the kids, assisting visitors at the shelter.
Shelter workers can handle and be out in the yard with the dogs unsupervised (and sometimes take the pups on fun field trips!) based on training level.
Shift Runner - Animal Care
Think shelter workers, with the knowledge and ability to think quickly on their feet and problem solve if the need arises.
Duties include, but are not limited to: all the shelter worker stuff, assisting potential adopters, redeeming found dogs, overseeing the running of the shift.
Shift Runners are expected to be up-to-date with all information about dogs in the shelter and assist shelter workers and light duty volunteers in building their knowledge base.