Volunteers: Partners in Caring

Volunteer Orientation is on the third Saturday of every month. Call 434-842-2404 to register.

Volunteers in Action
Volunteer Rayn and Tequila spend some quiet time together by the pond.	David splitting firewood.	CFC will sell the wood to support the animals.	Hella washes food bowls.

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Featured Volunteer

Everyone here at CFC would love to give a special "shout out" to our long-term volunteer orientation leader, Kirsten. Please see below for some details about her CFC experience. Words cannot express how valuable Kirsten's dedication is to our volunteer program, as well as all of our animals. Thanks for everything, Kirsten!

Question: How long have you volunteered for Caring For Creatures(CFC)?

Answer: Since the summer of 2004-a little over eight years.

Question: What is your favorite thing about volunteering for CFC?

Answer: Many of the animals at CFC are not in great condition when they arrive-often they are far too thin, sometimes they're terrified, a lot of the time they have medical issues. The CFC staff immediately starts to deal with those issues, providing good, consistent meals, medical care, and a safe place to live. Almost immediately, their bodies respond to those most basic needs being met. Then their personalities start to emerge, and that's my favorite thing about volunteering for CFC: watching animals who arrived in dreadful condition begin to thrive in this environment and getting to know their very distinct individual personalities over time.

Question: What do you see as the greatest difficult challenge facing the sanctuary currently?

Answer: I think the greatest challenge right now is finding creative ways to raise money to pay the bills.

Question: What is your most vivid memory here at the sanctuary?

Answer: My most vivid memories are the adoptions (since I spend most of my time at CFC with dogs, it's usually the dog adoptions I remember), especially when it's a dog who seemed less likely to be chosen for adoption, whether it's a long-time resident, like Monty, or one with chronic, but treatable, medical issues, like Bernie, or a very timid dog, like Blue, or one with a traumatic past that many people might shy away from, like Ru. All the adoptions mean a lot, but those are especially memorable both because of who the dogs are and the people who adopt them in spite of (or maybe because of) those special qualities.

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Volunteer Opportunities

The following are some jobs that are available and projects that we hope to undertake. As with most non-profit organizations, we do not have the funds to hire staff to take all these projects on. That's where you, our volunteers, come in.

Please look through the list and see if there is any area where you may be willing to help. Remember that we do not expect you to do it all alone. We have staff members that will help you to help us reach our goals. No matter where you live, near or far, with Internet access, we can find a volunteer job for you.

Animal Care

Hot Weather Pools & Pails

This job is better than going to any gym, and we won't charge you to lift our weights! Hauling water buckets for 40+ dogs is not an easy task, but it builds great muscles and works the heart and lungs. In the summertime, this job is done twice a day if not more, so if you can't come in the morning, you might want to consider coming in the afternoon and helping to refill buckets and swimming pools.

Dish Washing

Feeding over 200 animals generates a whole lot of dishes. Anyone willing to risk dishpan hands?

Pooper Scooping

This job naturally follows the feeding job. What goes in, must come out! This may sound like a dirty job, O.K. it is, but it can be fun too. You are always greeted enthusiastically by all the dogs, and if you throw a ball and play with them, you'll have a friend for life.

Grooming

Some of our cats and dogs are long-haired and require regular grooming, others are short-haired and just seem to get matted easily or just enjoy a good grooming. We always welcome volunteers who are willing to take the time to sit and groom the animals. Be prepared for lots of kisses and loving, though!

Walking and Exercise

Our pens are spacious, but the dogs do still enjoy walks so they may explore the fields and woods that surround them. We welcome volunteers to come walk dogs during the hours of 10-3 Tue-Sat.

Cat Socializing

We receive a lot of feral cats or at least very shy cats that need to learn what humans are all about. If you are a real cat lover, this may be the job for you. At first it may mean just sitting in the cattery and reading a book so the cats get used to your presence prior to trying to touch them. This is definitely a job for someone with a lot of patience, but many of our cats could learn to adapt to humans if given the chance.

Manicurist Wanted

Anyone good at doing nails? O.K. maybe not pretty nail polish designs, but more in the line of clipping. The nails just keep on growing and need regular clipping.

Grounds

Landscaping

The coming of spring and summer also means the coming of grass. With 160 acres of land, we sure do have plenty of it. We need weed-eater friendly volunteers to help keep the grass in the dog pens trimmed. For those of you with big green thumbs, we have many flower beds that need ongoing TLC.

Maintenance/Repairs

And we thought FORD stood for "Fix or repair daily," (no offense to you Ford owners). We sure do have an endless list of things to be fixed around here. There are tables for the dogs to jump on in every pen, many of which need fixing or rebuilding. There is everything from carpentry to plumbing to electricity work to be done, as well as jobs that just need a little brawn.

Administrative

Grants/Funding Opportunities

We are trying to get more grant money coming into CFC, and need someone who has time to do some computer investigation and research, searching for donated goods or dollars.

Fund Raiser Organizer

We would like to increase the amount of fundraisers that we do each year, but we need someone willing to come up with ideas and then spearhead them. Any takers? This person would have a brigade of volunteers to help them pull it off.

Fund Raiser Help

If you are interested in helping out at a fund raiser, but don't want to be the brains of the operation, that's great too. The more the merrier. There are always helpers needed to run booths, answer questions, or keep an eye on animals attending the fund raiser.

Hold a Yard Sale to Benefit Caring For Creatures

For those of you who want to get involved but live too far away, perhaps you could hold a yard sale and advertise that the proceeds are going to CFC. Not only would this help raise money for animal care, but it would help get more recognition for Caring for Creatures.

Bulk Mailing

We have several bulk mailings each year and we can always use extra hands to assemble these mailings.

Animal Adoptions

Offsite Adoption Outings

We'd love to have help with transporting and/or helping to show off our animals to potential adopters at offsite adoption events. You can also help man a table with donation jars, information brochures, and CFC merchandise to sell.

Adoption Flyers & Posters

If you are the creative type, you might want to help by creating adoption flyers and posting them at local businesses and public areas. We have pictures of all our animals or you can tale new pictures if you like!

Adoption-Ready

Would you like to work on a one-on-one basis with a dog or cat to prepare them for adoption? Some animals just need a little extra training, support and confidence to get ready for their 'forever home' and you could be the one who makes that difference.