Volunteer Opportunities
One person can make a difference!
Because we are a volunteer-based organization, we have many opportunities inside the organization where you can donate your time. Our volunteers keep our rescue running smoothly and keep our costs to a minimum. If you have some time on your hands and you love to help out a good cause, take a look to see if any of these opportunities intrigue you:
*General Volunteers – we need volunteers to help us run special events, fundraisers, adoption events and more! No special training needed, you just need to have a love of animals, and be willing to roll up your sleeves, dig in and help out at events to help us continue to help mature pets! Volunteer opportunities are emailed to our volunteer database- simply respond to those events/activities you would like to help out at, and ignore the ones you don’t. We do not have time commitment requirements- just help out when you can!
Volunteers help us run events, making sure things go smoothly!
*Event & Fundraiser Committee – hard-working and outgoing volunteers who love animals are needed to help organize, set-up, and run our events and fundraisers. Responsibilities include working with a handful of other volunteers committed to the same projects. Must be able to work well with a team, be willing to talk to the public, and be willing to meet occasional deadlines. Creative and fun-loving people who do well with the public would do best on this team. This is an opportunity to have fun while working on the core events that help this little rescue provide the best care for our animals!
*Auction Committee – a mostly “from home” committee, this committee is dedicated to bringing in items for silent auctions for the rescue. Items can be secured in several ways: going “door to door” visiting local businesses, via phone calls to businesses, and via email/mail to businesses. Items secured for auctions will help Young At Heart raise money for our
Sanctuary Program and future Sanctuary.
Smiling faces at local events help YAH get the word out about senior pets.
*Adoption Center Volunteers – Our cat adoption center is a small, cageless donated space at Best Friends Pet Care. We are in need of volunteers to help clean the litter boxes, the floors, the windows, the cages, and play and socialize with the cats. Ideally, we are looking for people who can go once a week on a fairly regular basis, but are open to all schedules. The adoption center holds 6 cats at a time, and being small, needs very regular cleaning to look its best and to keep the environment as healthy as possible for our cats. Grooming of the cats, including cleaning ears and clipping nails and overall health checks, is another opportunity for those with ample cat-knowledge.
Our cat center stays clean and tidy with the help of daily volunteers.
*Poster and Brochure Volunteers – Volunteers wanted who have printers at home that can print up our adoptable animals and post them at local businesses on a weekly basis in order to increase our adoptions. We can provide a “poster” format for Word so that you can simply “plug in” adoptable animals. Must have computer and printer at home, and be able to keep a list of local businesses that display our pets so that we can thank them by posting their info on our website. We are also looking for volunteers to go to vets, groomers, dog trainers, etc. with our brochures. We will provide the brochure and brochure holders for each business. Must be able to keep a list of businesses that display our brochures so that we can thank them and be able to keep tabs on who needs refills.
The Gough family suds up a dog for a YAH Dog Wash.
*Animal Transport – volunteers needed to help us save the lives of animals scheduled for euthanasia by providing transport to the vet, boarding facilities, and foster homes from either the pound itself or by meeting up with other transporters from the facilities. You must have reliable car, cell phone, and patience with scared animals. You can write-off $.14 per mile on your taxes for transportation directly related to the rescue of our animals! Transports happen every day of the week. Transports are usually no further East than Chicago, no further South than Joliet, no further North than Antioch, and no further West than Marengo.
Volunteers help coordinate events like our annual Canine Cruise.
