Volunteer Opportunity in Your Community
Kitsap Humane Society
The sign outside the Humane Society
Oct. 3, 2017
Anyone can make a difference in your community by volunteering and one place that you can definitely get involved is at Kitsap Humane Society, which has many opportunities for teenagers looking to get involved within their community! There are numerous things that you can do like walking dogs, socializing cats, help with cleaning, doing laundry or dishes, entering data, and more!
Vickie Josal, long term volunteer standing with a crate the largest of the transfer vans.
A longtime volunteer, Vickie Josal, volunteers in many different areas, including dog walking and helping out at some of the events for the shelter. Josal explains why she likes to volunteer at the Humane Society, “Because I feel like I need to help make a difference in the animals lives that are homeless.” She then describes the animals she likes to work with, “I really like working with the animals that are scared,” said Josal. “I like to see them come out of their shells and trust people.”
Volunteers help out the staff in many ways by cleaning the kennels, walking the dogs and socializing the animals. “Animals can’t help themselves so, it is very crucial that we have a good team in order to help them,” explains Natalie Smith, Director of Animal Welfare, about why people should want to volunteer. Another reason Smith gives as to why people should volunteer is that there is usually more work than there is staff, so by having extra help is beneficial to both animals and staff.
Ashley Short, Volunteer Coordinator, with dog Bone is explaining the path you should take when you walk a dog.
“I think people need to know that you need to be dedicated and reliable, we’re really looking for people that are interested in becoming a part of our team, our family, and are wanting to stay and people who are open-minded to learning new information and how we do things here and our philosophy”, says Ashley Short, Volunteer Coordinator. It is easy for someone to get involved in volunteering at Kitsap Humane Society. Some information that new volunteers should know is that if they are 13 to 15 they have to volunteer with an adult, they have to be 16 to volunteer by themselves. Applications are available on the Kitsap Humane Society website and once the application is filled out it can be taken either to the customer service desk at the Humane Society or it can be emailed to the volunteer department. After the application is turned in, the new volunteer then needs to attend Volunteer Orientation and then they are trained for the area they would like to volunteer in.