Fun Things to Do With Hopalong!

Once again, I come to you with a little something for everyone. Monday - Friday, 9-5ers, this just might be the time for you! Contact Lauren to sign up or with questions.

• SANTAPAWS! Every year Hopalong puts on Santa events for people and their pets- we're not just talking dogs and cats here, as you can see! This year these events will be every Saturday and Sunday in December. This is a wonderful chance to share holiday cheer with pet lovers from all over the Bay Area. We will need three to four handlers and helpers at each event and one coordinator for each event. Get your date now!
• LEARN TO COORDINATE: Contact Lauren if you'd like to learn how to be a coordinator for these events! (You don't have to commit to all of them- even one date is wonderful!)
• Assist at an event:
• Saturdays: November 30th, December 7th, 14th, 21st, (4 needed at each event)
• Sundays: December 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd (4 needed at each event)

• THANK-A-THON: Help us say "thank you" to all of all of our donors! This is a fun twist on the cold call: Call people and instead of asking for something, just say "thanks" on behalf of Hopalong! Can be done at home and for as much or as little time as you want. Kinda fun, right?

• DECORATE A LOBBY- A large Oakland based company is going to be turning over their lobby to us. Our task: make donating to Hopalong *so fun* that staff won't be able to resist! This task involves creativity and craftiness. Up for the job?

• ORIENTATION: Want to reach out to new volunteers? Help them realize how amazing Hopalong is? I'm looking for a superstar to help me out one Saturday a month orienting new volunteers. This is a tricky one and requires super reliability, a gregarious personality and ability to speak in front of small to medium groups. 

• UPCOMING INTERNSHIP: We are working out the details of our next internship, probably starting mid-January to line up with winter semester. This internship will focus on marketing and spreading the word. If you know any students or are a student, stay tuned, or get ahead of the game and contact me!

• SPAY/NEUTER PROGRAM: Got a passion for spay/neuter?We do, too! Next year we're going to be growing our outreach program and need help! This opportunity will combine data entry, answering some questions and doing some outreach about the program. Estimated start date is January 1st, 2014. 

• AMAZON WISHLIST: We are looking for one volunteer to help us build up and maintain our brand new Amazon wishlist. This is a great way for people to give us items we need (I know you've heard me complain about our copy machine!). Great opportunity to volunteer from home!

FURBALL! It's party time!

If you haven't bought your tickets for our 20th Anniversary Party on October 12th, there's still time!

UPDATE: ALL POSITIONS FILLED, THANK YOU!

If you'd rather help out, there's plenty of opportunities for all kinds of interests. Below, find out when each opening takes place to figure out if these fit in with your party plans! Sign up for as many as you'd like or email with questions. (Remember, the event takes place from 6:30-10:00)

Break Down:

• 5 people to help us break down the party. Time Frame: 10-11pm. Job Description: Stay a little late and help us clean up. This shouldn't be too bad, as we have *paid staff* this year! The more the merrier (and the quicker)!

Day Before Crafter:

• 1 or two people to come into the office and help us get ready. Time Frame: Thursday or Friday, Oct 10th/11th. Job description: Sign making, artsy skills, photo printer.

Ticket Taking:

• 1 person to help take tickets, swipe credit cards, hand out paddles. Time frame: 6:00-7:00 pm. Job description: Multi-tasking, fast paced, quick learner!

Set Up:

• 1 person to help staff set up Cerrutti Cellars. Time Frame: 4:30-6:30.

Photo Booth:

• 1 person to help us get people in and out of the photo booth. Time Frame: 6:00 - 9:00 Job Description: Take money, escort people in and out, check phones for facebook likes. 

Silent Auction Closer-Outers:

• 1 person to help our Silent Auction Manger figure out who won what and what is going home with whom! Time Frame: 9:00-10:00 pm. Job Description: We will have online and off-line bids going on. Our Silent Auction Manager will be in charge, so you'll help follow directions and check people out.

Spread the Word!

Ever heard of Microvolunteering?

It's the new thing, and it's really easy. Here are some really quick ways you can help Hopalong today.

• Download and print this flier- spread the the word about our 20th Anniversary Party coming up on Saturday, October 12th.
• Don't have a printer? Share the link on all of your social networks- and we know you've got them!
• Follow us on your social networks! We've got twitter and facebook and we're working on improving our social media presence.

These things may sound small, but they're little ways you can help homeless animals with a click, a print and a "share." You can do it!

Coming up!

Here's what we've got coming up: lots of good stuff!

Listed roughly by date:

Marin Pet Fair- This is an annual adoptathon in Marin that runs for two days- Saturday October 5th and Sunday October 6th from 10-5. We'll have lots of dogs and cats and will need lots of volunteers! I'm happy to help organize carpools.

• Dog Coordinators- both days
• Dog Handlers- we probably need 5-6 each day, possibly more if you only want to work a half day
• Set up and break down- both days

Furball- this is our big event on October 12th and I don't have details on what exactly we need yet. If you would like to commit to volunteering for an unknown position yet, please let me know! (Positions likely include setting up, taking tickets, etc)

Dog Mobiles- In the midst of all of this, we've got our normal dog adoption events coming up!

• Pet Food Express- Saturday, October 19th, 12-3, 3 or 4 dog handlers, transport to and from
• Fenton's- Saturday, October 26th, 12-3, 3-4 dog handlers, transport to and from

Meet the Fosters: Lisa, Mark, Diego and kittens?

Some people are dog people. Some people are cat people. Some people think those categories are ridiculous: dogs and cats are both animals, right?

Diego, the Little Brown Dog, and kittens!

Lisa and Mark are animal people, and luckily for Hopalong, they're animal fosters! And they've reached the point where animals start coming to them, even on their days off- recently Mark was riding his bicycle many many miles away and found itty bitty kittens on the side of the road. Guess where those ended up? At last count, they'd fostered over twenty animals, including little guy, Enzo, for months and months while his leg healed. They've even got their son Gavin involved- current foster Diego is absolutely smitten with him!

We have a lot to learn from Mark, Lisa and Gavin: they're in it for the long haul and for the dirty work of fostering. Sometimes their animals have casts, sometimes the animals have nasty rashes that require dipping in stinky sulfur baths, and, as with this last batch of kittens, they're not always quite eating on their own. This work is exceptionally rewarding: casts come off, rashes go away and kittens start eating, but it's hard! Thanks to Lisa and Mark for bringing out the best in Hopalong animals!

So Many Opportunities!

Here's what we've got coming up; what will you be doing?

Listed roughly by date:

Myrtle's Sundae Selling- Fenton's Creamery on Piedmont Ave is selling a specially created and delicious- looking sundae all month and 25% of proceeds go to Hopalong! Sales do better when we've got a volunteer out talking up the organization. Shifts available:

• Saturday, September 21st, 12-3
• Saturday, September 28th, 12-3
• Any other day you are free and would like to go!

Cat Mobiles and Mobile Training- Our fabulous Cat Crew has been handling mobile adoptions for years and are ready for more Cat Slaves! Learn how to assist at cat mobile adoption events and help find cats new homes this month!

• Cat Mobile Training: Saturday, September 21st, 11am, at the office
• Mobile Adoption: Sunday, September 22nd, 12-3, Your Basic Bird in Berkeley (need to have been trained in some way to attend this mobile)
• Mobile Adoption: Sunday, September 29th, 12-3, Fenton's (need to have been trained in some way to attend this mobile)
• Adoptathon: Saturday, October 5th and Sunday, October 6th, 10-5, Marin (we will have coordinators at this event, so no training required, but encouraged!)

Dog Mobiles- In the midst of all of this, we've got our normal dog adoption events coming up!

• Pet Food Express- Saturday, September 21st, 12-3, 3 or 4 dog handlers, transport to and from
• Fenton's- Saturday, September 28th, 12-3, 1 or two dog handlers, transport to and from

Wine Walk- Emeryville Bay Street (the same place Maddie's was this year) is hosting a charity event and donating the proceeds to Hopalong! There will be music, wine and... Hopalong representing!

• Saturday, October 5th, 3:30-7 at Emeryville Bay Street, 3 1 volunteers needed.

Marin Pet Fair- This is an annual adoptathon in Marin that runs for two days- Saturday October 5th and Sunday October 6th from 10-5. We'll have lots of dogs and cats and will need lots of volunteers! I'm happy to help organize carpools.

• Dog Coordinators- both days
• Dog Handlers- we probably need 5-6 each day, possibly more if you only want to work a half day
• Cat Handlers- Sunday, October 6th only; trained or untrained is fine for this event as we will have staff at this event
• Set up and break down- both days

Furball- this is our big event on October 12th and I don't have details on what exactly we need yet. If you would like to commit to volunteering for an unknown position yet, please let me know!

Thursday Email (What?)

Hi Everyone,

I know it's weird, but I don't want to miss my chance to say "hi" and "thank you!" this week, or to tell you about all the cool stuff that's coming up!

Thanks to everyone who came to the First Ever Hopalong Volunteer and Foster Social last week at Hive Cafe! I know I had fun and it was a great chance to hang out with you guys in a more informal setting. If there's interest, we'll get these going more regularly. Feedback welcome!

We have a lot of really cool opportunities coming up, some in September and many many more in October. I've posted them here with details, but to give you a rough idea, we get to boost ice cream sales at Fenton's in Oakland (YUM!), adopt out a bunch of animals in Marin, sell wine in Emeryville (woooo!) and then host a gala event! There is literally something for everyone here, so check out the dates and details and let me know what sounds good. We'll also be holding extra cat mobiles in September and all of our normal dog mobiles. If you're still interested in getting trained for cat mobiles, it's not too late!

Thank you to all of the fosters that have been doing such a great job with puppies and kittens! These little guys are so cute to look at but there's just a LITTLE more to puppies and kittens than that... lots of pee and poop and cleaning and socializing and yeah, you get the picture. These animals are getting into great adoptive homes with the help of our awesome volunteers which means we're pulling more and saving more lives which means we need more fosters! If you're free or have a friend or neighbor, send them our way. You guys are wonderful, thank you!

That's all for now- and don't forget, even though this is your Wednesday email, today is really Thursday. Back at your regularly scheduled time next week!

Yours,

Lauren