Ohlone Humane Society (OHS) supports and welcomes families and our youth in need of community service projects or hours by offering opportunities whenever possible. OHS understands that community service and volunteering at early ages are important for students and families to understand and promote the importance of human-animal well being. OHS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal welfare organization in good standing with the IRS and state since 1983.
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!
OHS Is All for the Animals, but we are not a shelter.
Our only facility is our wildlife rehabilitation center in Newark that is not open to the public except one day each year for our open house. Our only “resident” animals there are wild, temporary, and in need of veterinary care. Those short-stay animals are treated or rehabilitated by trained volunteers and then released to their natural habitats with as minimal human contact as possible.
If you are seeking direct hands-on animal care as your community service, you may have to contact a shelter or other facility. Everything we do, though, at OHS supports animals, whether wildlife or pet animals and their families.
Still interested? Listed below are ways youth, their families, and youth groups can be involved in our volunteer programs to service animals and pet owners.
FOSTER
Spend time with kittens who need you!
DONATION DRIVE
Collect items to help animals in need!
GARDEN
Help tend to the gardens at the WRC!
READ TO A PET
Read aloud to your furry friend!
Become a Youth Volunteer
STEP 1: See our program descriptions & requirements and current opportunities. We are always open to ideas for innovative projects to accommodate youth volunteers and families, so for other projects or your own ideas feel free to contact us at youth@ohlonehumanesociety.org.
STEP 2: Select a project and fill out an Online Request Form. All student/youth requests will be reviewed by our program personnel and, if needed, we will get back to you with instructions. We will do our best to support the students in our community, within our resources, staffing and availability. If your desired project is currently needed, we will ask you and all members of your group to complete an OHS volunteer application.
STEP 3: Submit an OHS Volunteer Application. To work with OHS or for a youth to receive service hours, an adult over 18 years must submit a Volunteer Application. Volunteers under 18 years of age must have a parent or legal guardian complete the form and list them by name as a child/youth. You may include more than one child/form.
All scout troop/club leaders and parents supervising children under 18 must complete a volunteer application. If representing a group of children desiring service hours, the parent/legal guardian of each child must submit an application with their child listed for the project. Media projects intending to show minors’ images or names will require consent to publish articles, photos or videos completed by the parent.
Youth Volunteer Opportunities
Fundraising & Donation Projects
- Wish List Drive: Any Age with Parent Supervision: Donation drives for food and supplies from our wish lists on Amazon and Chewy to collect supplies like treats, toys, necessary supplies and pet food for the community. Coordinated with various departments: Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Foster Kitten, or Trap-Neuter-Return. Coordinated with Youth Program.
- Plan Your Own Event: Any Age with Parent Supervision: Host a fundraising event of your planning and arranging: car wash, fun run, etc at school or community with school / parent consent and supervision to raise funds for certain community animal care projects. Coordinated with OHS Fundraising. Coordinated with OHS Fundraising.
- OHS Planned Events: Any Age with Parent Supervision: When OHS events are planned, sign up as a volunteer for and attend an OHS sponsored event performing assigned tasks. Parental supervision required. Coordinated with OHS Volunteering & Events Staff.
- Online Fundraiser: Ages 13-17 ONLY: Online fundraising with parental supervision to send out OHS announcements and event promotions through personal social media to raise funds and collect items for care of community pets and wild animals.. Coordinated with Online Fundraising Manager and Youth program.
- Special Fundraising Projects: Age 16-17 ONLY: Coordinate directly with the Fundraising manager on special fundraising projects. Coordinated with Fundraising staff.
Wildlife Center Support & Environment
- Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Gardens: Any Age with Parent Supervision: Follow the directions from our garden manager to help weed, plant, dig or maintain the gardens that supply some of the food for our wildlife center. Coordinated with Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Gardens.
- Scout Projects at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center: Ages 10-18: The center occasionally has special outdoor/building improvement scout projects for ages 10-18 years available with a parent onsite at all times during the project. No youth/scout group projects are available inside the center.
Fostering Kittens
- Foster Kitten Care: Ages 10-17: Parent must be a certified OHS Foster Parent and be assigned kittens by OHS program manager. Youth must have a regular assignment, send a video or photos of interaction with kittens and submit a parent verified written record using the Foster Kitten Care Logs provided. Service up to 5 hours. Coordinated with Foster Kitten program.
Pet Therapy
- Pet Therapy With Certified Parent: Ages 15-17: Parent-Pet-Youth team: Parent & pet TEAM must be already qualified with OHS and student must be at least 15 years old. Student needs to pass handling evaluation by manager. Parent-pet team must supervise youth handlers at all times. Coordinated with Pet Therapy.
Humane Education
- Read to a Pet Enrichment: Ages 5-13: Select a book appropriate for your age and reading level about pets or wild animals and read aloud to your pet or a friend’s pet with permission. Have your parent take a short video or photos of you reading the book to your pet up to 15 min/day and up to 5 books may be read. Complete a downloadable worksheet about the animal’s reaction and send photos/video and the completed worksheet to humane_education@ohlonehumanesociety.org. Coordinated with Humane Education.
- Create a Pet Training Video & Complete a Workbook: Ages 8-17: Learn and perform ON VIDEO for possible posting on our YouTube channel the care for yours or a friend’s pet with their parent’s permission. Keep track of your pet care on an OHS Daily Pet Care log and make a video for a particular type of pet care –grooming, feeding, training, body language, etc. At the end of your service, you will submit the workbook and video to qualify up to 5 hours of service to humane_education@ohlonehumanesociety.org upon completion. Coordinated with OHS Humane Education.
- Crafting: Any Age with Parent Supervision: Make cat or dog blankets; sew TNR trap covers, create animal-themed toys or decorative items for OHS to use with the community and foster animals or sell at fundraisers. Appropriate for service hours up to 10 hours, scout troops and scout awards, club projects. Craft items for animals MUST be pre-approved for safety. Coordinated with OHS Humane Education.
- Habitat Conservation: Any Age with Parent Supervision: See the Humane Education webpage section, Learn Outdoors with OHS. Request and complete A Habitat in Every Home and School award at home or through your classroom. If seeking up to 5 community service hours, you must complete a Habitat in Every Home and School Community Service report for credit. See instructions on the Program Descriptions & Requirements. Coordinated with Humane Education.
- Environmental Cleanup: Any Age with Parent Supervision: Take a neighborhood walk or somewhere selected by your parent and collect trash. Request and complete a Cleanup with OHS report for the amount of time you spent cleaning up and completing the log book up to 5 hours and send it to humane_education@ohlonehumanesociety.org. Coordinated with Humane Education.
- Wildlife Sighting & Habitat Video & Log: Ages 5-17: Take a walk to look for wild animals: can be anything like birds, squirrels, lizards, frogs, bugs, or others. Request and complete the Community Wildlife Sighting Log and send photos/video and its habitat and the completed workbook to humane_education@ohlonehumanesociety.org. Service projects up to 5 hours. Coordinated by Humane Education.