Interview! Pat Brayer, Clinic Director at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona
August 19, 2017
Interview! Lorrie Shaw, Owner, Professional Pet Sitting & Blogger, Animals Unfolded
August 26, 2017
The end of August is always bitter sweet in the shelters. We are full to the brim with lots and lots of cats and kittens. Our foster homes are tired, trappers are tired and to top it off… our summer volunteers are leaving us to go back to school. It really is The Summer Time Blues – When Volunteers Leave at the End of the Summer!
Late August can be one of the most challenging times in sheltering. Our people power is way down and numbers are so high! Even though I am not involved with the day-to-day management of a shelter anymore, I still get this low feeling in August and feel like something is missing.
One thing that I would recommend we try to do is to predict our loses and create early gains in July. We should do more volunteer recruiting in July and not recruit volunteers in mid-late August. Community Service programs are great, but they create gaps when one semester ends and another begins. Some organizations are lucky to have students join the volunteer team by the end of September, but they need training and monitoring, etc.
I would also think carefully if you are a small organization. Can you support a volunteer program for people that can only commit for a couple of months? Many organizations require a commitment of 6 months or more and I really understand the rational.
So I ask this question of you today. What are your thoughts about seasonal volunteers? Do we want them or not? Please share your comments on our Facebook page!
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