Volunteers are vital to CARE’s mission and the wellness of our animals. There are a number of ways to volunteer with CARE. Because we rely on volunteers to help us with much of what we do, reliability and commitment are very important to us. We invest time in training our volunteers to ensure a safe and meaningful experience, so we ask that our volunteers commit to at least 6 months of service, and hopefully longer.
Below are the current volunteer opportunities with CARE.
- Foster a dog or cat. For any rescue or shelter, this is always the top need. Learn more here.
- Fundraising Committee. This committee plans and executes many different fundraising events throughout the year and works to recognize our donors.
- Voicemail Responder. Responds to voicemail inquiries from the community about CARE foster animals and about general dog and cat issues. Voicemail volunteers retrieve and respond to CARE’s messages once daily for a one week rotation – the frequency depends on how many voicemail responders there are at any time. Responders forward voicemail inquiries to the appropriate committee for response.
- Cat Voicemail and Email Responder. Responds to email and voicemail inquiries about CARE’s cat-focused programs. Coordinates with the Cat Welfare Committee regarding outreach and response to cat issues in the community. Some knowledge of cat behavior is helpful.
- Lillie’s Fund Voicemail Responder. Retrieves and responds to voicemail inquiries about CARE’s Lillie’s Fund, a targeted spay/neuter program for low-income Chatham County residents. Assists the program’s coordinator in follow-up calls to Lillie’s Fund clients, as needed.
- Marketing. CARE needs energetic, creative writers and volunteers with experience in graphic design. Some marketing experience would be useful.
- Table Tent Manager. Updates and distributes table tents that promote CARE and CARE’s adoptable cats and dogs to current CARE partners (e.g. The Beagle, Carolina Brewery, Breakaway Cafe) and future CARE partners.
- Social Media. Works with the existing social media team to post adoptable animals, events and other promotions for CARE on Facebook. This work may also involve developing and coordinating promotions and information with a defined list of volunteers who will post on their individual Nextdoor sites.
- Cat Trapping and Data Collection. Meets with citizens who are borrowing traps from CARE for TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return), provide consultation and complete appropriate paperwork. Depending on interest, this volunteer could be involved with trapping cats for TNVR where caretakers are unable to do this or where no identified caretaker exists. Data Collection would involve data entry for a community cat tracking system.
After completing the form below, you’ll be contacted by CARE to discuss which of the volunteer opportunities will work best for you.