Volunteer Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Little Traverse Bay Humane Society! Our mission at LTBHS is to sustainably and respectfully serve pets and the people who love them with compassionate, comprehensive, and exemplary care. Volunteers make a tremendous difference in the work we do and fulfilling our mission. We are so grateful for our amazing volunteers!

Volunteer Guidelines

Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. Those under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian while on LTBHS property. Volunteer opportunities can include helping our animal care attendants with cleaning tasks such as dishes, laundry, cleaning of dog and cat enclosures, dog, and cat enrichment, and more! LTBHS frequently needs assistance with events, intakes, and transport opportunities as well as foster families to help us care for animals who are not yet available for adoption! The opportunities are endless here at LTBHS and we encourage volunteers to help us brainstorm additional tasks that could be available!

Scheduling

Volunteers are welcome to come to our facility anytime during normal business hours. The shelter is open Monday through Saturday from 10am-5pm. To arrange volunteering at a time outside of normal business hours, please contact the Volunteer and Foster Coordinator directly at sgraves@ltbhs.com.

Volunteer Requirements

Orientation All volunteers are required to complete a volunteer application and attend a volunteer orientation. These are scheduled at least once per month and can be done individually upon appointment.

Fear Free Shelters We ask that volunteers who wish to engage with the animals complete the Fear Free Shelters program. This is a free training opportunity to help us provide the most calm and positive experience for the animals in our care. Volunteers are able to complete the training on their phone or a computer and we encourage volunteers to complete it while they are on-site or at home if they prefer.

Dress Code We require that our volunteers wear appropriate clothing for working with animals in the shelter environment. This includes wearing closed toe shoes and long pants. Volunteers should expect they may get messy and should plan accordingly. Failure to dress appropriately for the shelter environment may result in a limitation to volunteer duties on that date or being asked to change before volunteering. We also ask that LTBHS volunteers wear a name tag while they are on-site helping us! Name tags are available at the front desk.

Personal Limitations LTBHS asks that volunteers communicate openly and express their comfort level as it applies to all tasks and animal handling. All employees of LTBHS reserve the right to limit the tasks available to volunteers for any reason.

Get kids involved!

Do you have a young animal lover at home who wants to help the animals at LTBHS, but you aren’t able to volunteer on-site? Check out the ideas below for how they can help the mission at LTBHS!

· Host a bake sale or lemonade stand! This is fun for kids, and it helps the shelter, too-win, win! Have them gather a few of their friends and organize a simple sale selling homemade treats (or even crafts!). It’s hard to resist a yummy cookie from a cute kid with a great cause!

· Birthday donations We are fortunate at LTBHS that we have a caring community of kids who often think of us on their birthday! Many of our young supporters choose to use their birthday to collect money or supplies for the animals.

· Start a donation drive at school or as part of an extracurricular group! If the teacher, principal or leader of the group are on board, a donation drive is a great way to gain essential items like food, treats, toys, leashes, collars, litter, bleach and other cleaning supplies.

To learn more about volunteering, please contact Shannon Graves, at 231-347-2396 or sgraves@ltbhs.com