About Service Groups
Service groups are available to businesses, organizations, or high school/college academic or athletic groups who need to fulfill a volunteer requirement, are looking for a bonding activity or are just looking for a great way to give back.
- Service groups are scheduled in 2-hour time slots.
- You must schedule your service group a minimum of 2 weeks in advance, based on availability. Some dates are booked out months in advance.
- Service groups are available Monday - Friday, and may start between the hours of 10am - 3pm.
- Time slots fill up quickly, so reserve your place soon!
We are not typically able to fulfill family service group requests.
We do not have court-ordered or diversion volunteer programs, so cannot fulfill any court-ordered or diversion program community service or volunteer requests.
SERVICE GROUP ACTIVITIES
There are a variety of activities that service groups complete and they are based on the current needs of the shelter at the time of your visit.
The first hour of your service group may include
- Kennel cleaning
- Grounds cleanup
- Laundry
- Washing dishes and litter boxes
- Lobby cleaning
- Event preparation
- Treat preparation
The second hour of your service group may include
- Dog walking
- Cat cuddling & grooming
- Small animal socialization
REQUIREMENTS & GUIDELINES
- Must be a business, organization or high school/college academic or athletic group
- All volunteers must be 16 years of age or older
- Must not be court-ordered or part of a diversion program
- Group Size: We ask that service groups be a minimum of 3 people and maximum of 10 at a time.
- Wear comfy clothes! You will be performing a variety of tasks while volunteering, so you may get dirty. We also ask for closed-toed shoes.
PLEASE BE AWARE that the SFAHS is a busy working environment, where pet allergens, cleaning agents and high noise levels exist. Critters may jump on you, leave muddy paw prints, and could scratch or bite. Although not all jobs require hands-on involvement with shelter animals, you will almost certainly be working near dogs, cats, and other small animals. Service groups may require volunteers to lift and carry a minimum of 10 pounds up to 60 Pounds depending on your role, reach and lift, possess vision abilities including close vision, distance vision, and depth perception.