 Do you want to help animals in need??
Learn how you can become an ARF Volunteer!!! |
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| Volunteering
is a very rewarding experience. It can be as simple as
completing a home check in your area or helping to transport a
dog.
It can be as much as becoming a coordinator for ARF or
being a representative during our adoption process. |
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| Giving
just a few hours of your time each month can make a huge
difference to a dog in need.
We understand that time is limited…we understand that
everyone has jobs, family, friends, and other commitments.
We all have the same commitments!
Everyone that works with ARF is a volunteer.
That’s why we need your help! |
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| Please
send us an e-mail
if you would like to discuss volunteer opportunities with ARF. |
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| The
following are various ways at which to volunteer with All
Retriever Friends (ARF). |
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Foster
Home
Dogs
that have been rescued need to be fostered in a home for a
period of time, often from one week to a month.
Foster families are greatly needed and have an
important role in evaluating the temperament and behavior of the
dog. Foster
families help us to determine the best family placement for the
dog. This
commitment can most definitely save a retriever’s life.
Foster
families are special people that open their hearts and homes to
take in a retriever temporarily and place him/her in permanent
homes. These dogs are fostered at the families’ expense.
Only basic health care can be reimbursed.
The family should treat the dog as they would their own
dogs and keep ARF appraised of the dog’s condition and
availability for adoption.
The foster family should be able to write a biography of
the fostered dog after a few days so that a prospective family
match can be considered. Fostering
is a tremendous opportunity to help us save the lives of many of
our retriever friends. |
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Home
Checker
Before
we place any dog in a home, we send a volunteer to the adoptive
home to check to make sure that it’s a safe and loving
environment for our dog. Home
checks 15 to 20 minutes to complete, but help us to ensure that
the homes we’re adopting our dogs into are as wonderful as we
think they are. We’ll
work with all volunteers to help them feel comfortable doing
home checks, and give the volunteers a form to follow. |
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Shelter
Liaison
In an effort to identify and evaluate retrievers
in shelters, volunteers are needed to visit local shelters
and look for retrievers. Shelter
liaisons inform us of the status of various retrievers at the
shelter and help us to evaluate the dogs’ temperaments.
The ARF shelter liaison also develops a rapport with
shelter representatives in an effort to keep ARF presence and
recognition in the shelters. We obtain the majority of our dogs through shelters;
therefore, shelter liaisons are absolutely key to our mission. |
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Family
Representative
We receive many applications every month.
Often, we receive many wonderful applications for a
single dog; obviously, we can’t give everyone that one dog!
Family representatives are assigned to approved
applicants to help them find the perfect dog for their family.
The family representative watches our incoming dogs to
help the applicant stay on top of whom we have that’s perfect
for them! |
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Dog
Representative
Our
dogs are the key to our whole rescue.
That goes without saying.
Dog representatives help us to select the perfect family
for a dog. The dog representative learns about the dog and helps us to
determine what qualities are needed in a family. The dog representative also answers questions that come from
potential adopters, helping them know more about the dog.
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Fundraising
Fundraising
is a major step in obtaining donations.
Ideas from volunteers are needed to help create methods
through which we can solicit donations.
These ideas can be implemented at public events related
to dogs’ activities.
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Event
Help
When we do public events, they can be a major
undertaking! We
have to manage all of our dogs, mingle with the community,
answer questions from potential adopters, help people fill out
adoption forms, conduct interview…whew!
We need all the help we can get to make these events as
successful as possible. |
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Dog
Transportation
Often,
dogs are transported from a shelter to a veterinarian or a
foster home that is throughout the greater Southern California
area. Volunteers are needed at various times to help transport dogs
to these different places.
Crates are usually used in transportation, making it
safer for the dog(s) and the parties driving the dog to their
destination.
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Grant
Writing
Without overstating the obvious, we can’t do what we do
without money. Grants
help us to save retrievers.
We have lists of grant sources without someone to be able
to help us to write for them!
We need someone with good professional writing skills
(grant writing skills would be a wonderful bonus!).
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Newsletter
Development
We
would love to put out a newsletter to our supporters, both
web-based and not. We
need a creative team that can help to put out this newsletter.
It can start out as bi-annual and hopefully become
quarterly! We just
need our team members…so if you’re a writer, have a creative
interest, or just want to give it a go, let us know!
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Adoption
Follow-Up
Our
retrievers are forever a part of the All Retriever Friends
family. We need
some volunteers who can follow-up with our adoptive families to
ensure that all is going well with the transition and new home.
This can be something that can be done after work at
night or on the weekends.
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Communications/Marketing
Specialist
Outreach
to the public is a very important aspect of rescue. Our recognition in communities helps provide placement for
our dogs and encourage financial support for the organization.
A communications/marketing specialist will help us to
promote ourselves within the communities in Southern California.
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In
Closing…
Often, people have an interest in saving the
lives of animals but not necessarily the time.
Even the smallest amount of time can contribute a large
amount of effort in saving the lives of these dogs.
If you have absolutely no time, then please donate money
to help us save more dogs.
Every bit of time and money is important to the purpose
of the organization—saving the retrievers that we all love
dearly. |
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