Youth Volunteer Opportunities are described below.  You must be 13 or older to volunteer without a parent or guardian.  You may find it helpful to print this page for reference when completing the application.  At the bottom of the page is a link to our Youth Volunteer Application. 

If you have under 40 hours total time to give to the Society (or a deadline that is less than two months from today) the options available to you include conducting a bake (or other type sale) during our busy Saturday hours from 10am through 4pm or completing a project that involves the donation of a product or event for the Society.  Successful sales have involved homemade cakes, pies, brownies, cookies, chocolate covered and decorated pretzels, and chocolate animal-shaped lollipops.  People have also offered store bought candy, cookies, cakes and snacks.  Other ideas have included selling hot dogs and bottled water during the summer months.  While most sales involve being at our facility for 4-6 hours, the actual baking or collection of baked goods from friends and family members may also be allowed, depending upon the organization requiring you to do the community service work.  Suggestions for projects may be found here.   

Data Managers - All of our adoptable animals are posted on our website and synced to several other adoption websites.  Keeping this information as up to date as possible increases our rate of adoption.  Volunteers print out the listings, compare them with the animals in the adoption areas, remove the adopted animals and add new animals to the website.  Training takes place on Wednesday evenings and ongoing duties are done at the close of each adoption day.  Once a volunteer demonstrates the ability to follow rules and has photography skills (including the use of a digital camera and downloading images) photographing animals for the site can be added to their volunteer duties. 

Lost Pet Supporters - Everyday stray animals are turned into the Women’s Humane Society or people call the shelter to report lost or found pets.  Reports from pet owners and finders help to reunite families with their missing pets.  Volunteers call the reporters to update our records.  Then we compare the lost reports to the found reports to see if any animals look like a match.  Staff members compare lost reports to stray animals received at our shelter.  Letters are prepared and mailed to each lost pet owner with ways they can increase the likelihood of being reunited with their pet.   Training and this duty takes place on Wednesday evenings from 6 — 8 pm.  Volunteers that demonstrate exceptional confidence and communication skills when placing these calls can advance to helping in the front office, with adoption counseling, and at community events.  Volunteers who demonstrate exemplary dedication and attention to rules may advance to double checking lost reports against the stray animals at the shelter.

Groundskeeper - Everyday dogs that use our veterinary clinic, obedience classes, and shelter relieve themselves on the grass surrounding the building and parking lots.  This creates health hazards for other animals and frustration for people who step in the messes left behind.  Sadly, some owners and finders do not use our bags and waste buckets.  Volunteers use a pan, rake and bucket to keep our grounds as safe and clean as possible for visitors.  Training takes place on Wednesday afternoons and evenings.  Once trained, cleaning may be done anytime during Society hours.  This task takes about one hour to complete.  Volunteers interested in taking a greater role in keeping the society beautiful are invited to learn more about our butterfly gardens and what is needed to keep them looking sharp.

Clerical Support - We have information from a variety of sources to give to adopters to take home with their new pet.  Sorting, organizing and putting this all together is done on an as needed basis.  Pamphlets need to be counted and grouped, data needs to be entered in the computer, mailings need to be disassembled for recycling, all on an as needed basis.

If you are unable to obtain the form online (Adobe Reader 8.1 or higher is required) please call our office at 215-750-3100, ext 253 and request a Youth Volunteer application be mailed or e-mailed to you.

Submission methods:

1. Fill out the online form, (Adobe form has a Submit by Email button at the end), email to whshelpline@aol.com. (preferred method).
2. Print and Fax completed form to 215-750-5253.
3. Mail completed form to us at address on top.
4. Bring completed form to our lobby office.

Youth Volunteer Application