Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Weekly Volunteer Update

Happy Wednesday, Volunteers and Fosters!

It appears we've reached the cusp of kitten season. The office is taking a deep breath and getting ready- if you hear anything, that’s just us going “KITTENS!!!” Dog volunteers/fosters, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten you, but this week we've gone to the cats!

Thank you very much to Volunteers Danny and Kathy who made the cat room habitable: we have cats (adults for now) there and have opportunities for two cat cuddlers a day to come in and socialize. If you’re interested, shoot me a note (lauren@hopalong.org) and we’ll get you in here! We've also got some spaces available at our PetCo site in Emeryville: please let me know if you’re interested in socializing/cleaning there.

We had a fabulous week of adoptions: Barley, the last spaniel puppy and PB, Miles, JoJo and others!

This week we welcomed six new volunteers who left orientation ready to start tabling at events, fundraising, handling dogs and more. Say “Hi!” them when you see them around!

We have lots of other opportunities available on the blog- don’t forget to check there if you’re looking for a way to help out. And thank you for your continuing willingness to help make our new database work- it’s really coming along!

Opportunities

  • Shredding Paperwork 
  • Cat Cuddling: Thanks to Kathy and Danny, the cat room is ready! If you're interested in coming to cuddle cats, we have opportunities for two cuddlers a day. Check in with Lauren (lauren@hopalong.org) to set up.
  • PetCo shifts- Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Weekly Volunteer Update

Good afternoon fosters and volunteers,

There are a couple of cool things coming up. First, the Bay Area Derby Girls (local Roller Derby club) have offered us a chance to promote Hopalong at their events. This is so incredibly awesome, I can’t even begin to explain the awesomeness! Mark your calendars and raise your hands if you’re interested in tabling May 11, June 15, July 13 and/or Aug 17th. Second, some of you have asked about the upcoming Oakland Cat Vid Fest on May 11th and the answer is yes, we’ll be there!

To find out about ongoing opportunities- when you’re sitting at home thinking, how can I help Hopalong- check THIS PAGE. If you have an RSS reader this is the page to add, or you can just bookmark it. I will be keeping it updated with ongoing and up-to-the-minute opportunities. If you want to know what’s behind this door and what you can do about it, you’ll have to click the link!

Some of you are getting really great at logging your hours. Others of you, well, you know who you are.

Exciting adoptions this week: Luna, the 6 year old tortie and 8 of 9 puppies! (Erica had a wildly successful adoptathon on Friday! Thank you to the fosters and volunteers who helped out!)

Thank you again for all of your continuing hard work.

Opportunities

  • Cat room sprucing
  • Online advertising- Our online presence needs boosting and there are lots of opportunities right now for people who like to work at home. Help post ads and keep them current on sites like Idealist, Craigslist, etc. 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Cat Room Needs You!


What's behind door Number 1?
You may not be able to tell, but behind that yellow door is a new cat room- a space for long-term cats or cats on break from sites. The space has amazing light (beautifully represented in the panorama below) and will have room for Cat Cuddling!

It's almost ready for cats, but needs a little more work. Volunteers can:
  • Help move supplies
  • Help clean
  • Organize the place
  • Donate cat trees (we need a couple big ones) or help find gently used cat trees.
Contact Samantha (samantha@hopalong.org) or Lauren (lauren@hopalong.org) to schedule a time to come in!

The New Cat Room!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Weekly Volunteer Update

Dearest Hopalong Fosters and Volunteers,

I hope you’re enjoying the new, lower volume of emails- don’t worry, you didn't fall off of the list! I’m working on targeting people in smaller groups based on activity preference: if you like to drive, you’ll get driving emails, if you like to do office work, you’ll get office emails, etc. That being said, it’s REALLY important that you either get into the database or contact me and let me know what you like to do so you get your updates!

If you've never considered driving before or have driven in the past, we're really short on drivers, especially during the week. Please contact me if you're interested (lauren@hopalong.org). You might even get to use the Brand New Van!!!

Next item is much more fun (and we love to have fun!): tomorrow night (April 11th) is happy hour at Farley’s. Every month Farley’s donates a portion of their proceeds from Happy Hour to a nonprofit and tomorrow Hopalong is up! There will be a cat mobile there as well. The event is posted on Facebook; please share around! The event will be from 5-9 PM and Farley’s is located at 33 Grand Ave in Oakland.

Lastly, thanks to Volunteer David who pointed out that I’m slacking on letting you know who has been adopted! (Don’t worry, he said it much more nicely than that!) Some exciting recent adoptions included 2 black cats: Shadow (!!!) and Chatter, and some longer term dogs: Scarlett, Penelope, Cashmir Picante and Chip!

Hope you’re having a fabulous week and enjoying this heat,

Drivers Needed!

Fosters and Volunteers,

If you've never considered driving before or have driven in the past, we're really short on drivers, especially during the week. Please contact me if you're interested (lauren@hopalong.org). You might even get to use the Brand New Van!!!

Thanks so much,

Lauren

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Recent Adoptions!

Thank you to a very smart volunteer who pointed out that volunteers and fosters are itching to know where and when Hopalong animals get adopted! This is a major oversight on my part and I am working to correct it as quickly as possible. For now, I've created this page: Recently Adopted Animals and will try to stay on top of it (the animals there are just a start).

I'll also be including some recently adopted animals in weekly emails. If you have any questions about where an animal is, feel free to email me!

Lauren
lauren@hopalong.org

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Weekly Volunteer Update

Dear sweet and wonderful volunteers and fosters,

I hope all is well with you and yours. I’m so thrilled to keep meeting all of you!

Things are picking up here- I will be hosting my first volunteer orientation Friday at the office, and if you have any feedback at all that you’d like to give me, I’m all ears! Saturday, Samantha and I will be heading over to BACS to have Hopalong’s first kitten foster information session.  Kitten season is just about here- if you’re not in touch with Samantha yet about fostering this is a great time to let her know you’re ready. If you’ve never thought about fostering kittens, this is also a good time to do so! She can be reached at Samantha@hopalong.org

The other big thing going on right now is Farley’s, pictured at left. Thanks to awesome volunteer Mari, Farley’s, a cafĂ© in downtown Oakland has generously donated their window space to us for April. Juliet and Mari decorated the window early this week with pictures of adoptable animals, Hopalong info, etc. This is a majorly awesome opportunity: Farley’s is a high traffic spot! We have two openings for volunteers: THIS FRIDAY NIGHT (April 5) is First Friday in Oakland and we need at least one person to join Mari in tabling. Next THURSDAY, APRIL 11, Farley’s is hosting happy hour, and proceeds will go to Hopalong! We will be having a mobile there, and also need volunteers for tabling. Please let me know if you are available to help with this, any time after 4PM (can be later).

I've put these and some other volunteer opportunities up on the brand spanking new blog http://hopalongvolunteers.blogspot.com/p/current-opportunities.html. Don’t forget to check this and log your hours! http://www.hopalong.org/?page_id=2896
Feel free to contact me any time, for any reason. And thank you again!