Volunteer Opportunities at the 4 Paws Society

The Special Event Coordination team are 4 Paws volunteers who work at the numerous special events and festivals in our area… Celtic Festival, Women’s Conference, etc.

Volunteers assist in setting up our booths, disseminating information about our organization, and recruiting new volunteers. Often times there is an opportunity to also showcase some of our adoptable animals.

The recent "Young at Heart Expo" is an example.  We had a great time spreading the word about our mission and volunteer and fund raising opportunities.

We even showed off a couple of our dogs available for adoption!

Success is such a fleeting feeling in the dog rescue world!

Just as we at congratulate ourselves that we've adopted, on average, more than a dog-a-day, the stark reality of the number of dogs and puppies in need makes us wonder if we can claim success at any time, at any level. Funding is needed for medical care, medicine, food, and much, much more.

The Fund Raising Committee is a team of individuals that work to plan, organize, and implement 4 Paws fund raising events.

The Public/Media Relations Committee is a team of individuals that help market the 4 Paws Society in public forums on Television, Radio (we do every Fri. morning at 99.5- Gator Radio in Lake Charles), newspapers and periodicals.

We need spokes people for our cause.

The Donations Committee is a team of individuals that plan organize and implement programs to solicit donations from public and private organizations as well as individuls. Soliciting sponsorships and funds on an on-going basis is one of their functions.

The 4 Paws Society Sponsor Program is an example. In short, the Sponsor Program is a way for contributors to make a donation specific for the medical care of a dog or puppy. Further, the donor can actually pick a dog and follow its progress.

The Volunteer Coordination Committee works with our volunteers and prospective volunteers to find the right match for their skills and area of interest.

This team also conducts new volunteer orientation programs and continues to communicate with our volunteers to ensure that they are engaged in their areas of interest.

This committee maintains the list of all volunteers of 4 Paws Society and their contact information.

They identify volunteers who want to take part in the variety of functions we offer...photography, dog walking, dog bathing, dog grooming, kennel attendant work, office, and many, many other volunteer jobs we have available.

The Foster Home Committee is a team of individuals that work with the current foster families giving them a full orientation to fostering with 4 Paws. Helping with questions or concerns that foster parents might have about a foster. Disseminating a foster packet with all the appropriate information included...A foster application and a foster instruction sheet.

Fostering a dog is an incredibly rewarding volunteer effort. Fostering helps to socialize our dogs and puppies to make them more adoptable.

The Foster program also "buys time" to allow 4 Paws to locate that just right home for a deserving dog.

The 4 Paws Foster program needs Southwest Louisiana volunteers willing to.

• Serve as a foster parent or family
• Assist in developing the foster program
• Provide transport assistance
• Serve on the Foster committee

Read more: The 4 Paws Foster Program: Fostering and Fostering Home Committee

The 4 Paws Web Site Committee is a small group of individuals who work with the web site administrator to offer content and input on design of the 4 Paws Society web site.

One or two memberss of this committee will be given edit access to the web site and will receive appropriate training.

Examples of talent needed:

• Writers
• Interviewers
• Proofreaders
• Graphic Design
• Researchers for links and ideas

The Petfinder Committee manages the 4 Paws dog on Petfinder.com. This includes adding, deleting, and editing photos of our rescue dogs as well as their stories.

Adding an animal includes uploading a picture and a bio. Once the animal is adopted, it must be removed from the Petfinder.com active list. Editing bios to keep them up to date, requesting/uploading new pictures when needed, and reviewing the weekly Petfinder.com statement are functions of this committee.

This committee will also explore other venues on which we can list our rescues for adoption.

Another function of this committee is to check the 4 Paws Society e-mail account and answer to inquiries submitted by the public.

The committee chairperson is the primary contact for Petfinder.com.

The 4 Paws Administrative Committee is a group of volunteers that help with the many and varied tasks needed to maintain an organized record of 4 Paws Society activities. For example, we maintain Excel spreadsheets for:

• rescue contact lists
• vet cost recap lists
• all dogs adopted and the adopter information, etc, etc.

We also need voice messages checked frequently.

Checking our various e-mail accounts and referring the inquiries to the appropriate 4 Paws Society person or answering the inquiry submitted by the public is another important function of this committee.