Volunteers are needed at every step in the actual rescue process: Shelter walking; Intake; Foster Homes; Home Visits; Adoptions and Vet care. Volunteers are also needed to help in our fund-raising efforts and information-and-education events. Whether you can give 2 hours a month or 20 hours a week, there IS a way you can help with our operation which will make it more successful.
Here are some of the volunteer opportunities you may be interested in:
- Merchandise Manager - Position places orders for merchandise from selected vendors; maintains inventory control; ships orders to members; attends/or finds someone to attend events where merchandise will be sold.
- Corporate Donations Chairperson - Research and manage applications to relevant trusts or corporate sponsors.
- Shelter Walking Coordinator - receive daily e-lists and New Hope database lists; arrange coverage for schedule changes; liaison to MACCS and other rescue groups regarding shelter dogs; troubleshoot; orient and train team members; coordinate with Intake, Foster and Vet Teams; serve as member of Trench Leader Team; gather and produce quarterly reports sent in to MACCS.
- Shelter Walking Team - Maricopa County has two shelters. We try to walk each shelter every other day to see if there are any Goldens. If a Golden is in the shelter, the shelter walker puts our name on the dog to ensure the dog is not euthanized. It takes a few minutes to walk the aisles of a shelter, and those can be very important minutes for a Golden that might be there.
- Intake Team & Transport Team - The intake team (volunteers on a rotation, "on" for one week then "off" for a week or several, depending on how many team members there are) check the WOOF line every day to determine if anyone has called wanting to surrender a dog. If yes, they would call the owner to confirm and to find out if the dog is a purebred Golden and whether or not it has ever shown any aggressive tendencies, and gets additional information regarding the dog. Then the Intake person would contact the Foster Team to request a foster home. Once a foster home is established, our Transport Team will make arrangements to pick the dog up.
If you are interested in the Intake team, you will need to have time to make phone calls and to input some information into our data base.
If you are interested in the Transport team, it will be helpful if you own a minivan or SUV, so that you can put a dog crate in the back. In addition, having a digital camera is almost essential, since it is the Transport person who first deals with each dog that comes into Rescue, and most of the photos we use are taken on that first day. The mileage is tax deductible. - Foster Home Team - Volunteers on a rotation ("on" for one week then "off" for a week or several, depending on how many team members there are) who are responsible for finding a foster home for a new dog coming into Rescue. The Foster Home Team volunteer is provided a list of potential fosters and must try to match what is known about the dog to what a family has specified about the type of dog they are willing to take. Making a good match is important, since so many of our fosters end up adopting the dog they foster.
- Adoption Team - The Adoption Department review and approve or deny applications that are sent in by potential adopters and foster families. They do a phone interview and they arrange for a home visit.
- Golden Evaluation Team (Home Visit Team) - Evaluators review applications that are sent in by potential adopters and foster families. We attempt to do a home visit on every family that has been approved to foster and/or adopt before taking a dog to them. We need volunteers all over the state to help us determine if a home is a good and safe environment for a Golden. Once the home visit is completed, the paperwork is forwarded to our Foster Home Team, which matches the approved family with a dog.
- Vet Care Team - These volunteers handle all veterinary needs of foster dogs, as well as medical treatment that must be continued after a dog is adopted (ie planned surgeries, valley fever cases, etc). One team member is the liaison to the the foster families; one team member keeps all permanent files on each dog; one team member inputs all vet records into the RAGofAZ data base. The Vet Care team is the liaison between our participating vets and our foster families.
- Fund-raising - RAGofAZ does two major fundraisers each year. Hearts of Gold is a wine tasting and auction held in the spring and Golden Days of Summer is a golf tournament with an auction held at the end of August. We also participate in the PETS911 Bowl-A-Rama in August; Photos with Santa at PetSmart; gift wrapping at several Barnes and Nobles stores during the holiday season; and a variety of raffles (in particular Bark in the Park and West World Dog Show). Help is needed with all aspects of these fundraisers.
- Information & Education Events - We do many public appearances throughout the year, primarily in Phoenix. We walk in The Parada del Sol Parade in Scottsdale, The St. Patrick's Day Parade in Phoenix and the Glendale Fireman's Parade in Glendale. We always need walkers with or without their Goldens. Other regular venues include West World Dog Show, The Women's Expo, Big Boys & Their Toys Expo.
- We do require that you are a member of RAGofAZ. Membership dues are $25 per individual and $40 for a family; memberships are good for one year.
- You must be 18 years of age or older.
If you are interested in one or more of these volunteer opportunities please contact Kathi Youhas goldenluv@cox.net