Pet Adoption and Welfare Services of Oklahoma, Inc
Volunteer!
Volunteering with PAWS-OK is fun and educational. We are an ALL VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION - we have no paid employees. We are a small group but we are always looking for great new people to join us in our rescue efforts. We like to have fun while we concentrate on furthering our mission of finding the best homes possible for our rescued cats and kittens. Here are a few of our most common (and most needed) volunteer opportunities. Please review them and don't be afraid to contact us about other ways you believe you can be of help. All our volunteers must be 21 years of age and have their own transportation. Thanks!
ADOPTION COUNSELORS
Finding our cats great new homes
Many of our volunteers specialize in just one or two of the activities that keep us on track. As you probably know, if you are reading this, there is never a short supply of cats and kittens requiring our help but our ability to rescue those in need is completely dependent on space so great ADOPTION COUNSELORS are one of our most valuable resources. Finding our rescues great homes is vital and we do lots of training to help our counselors feel comfortable interviewing applicants. If you like to talk to people about their pets and are a detailed person who believes every cat deserves a home but maybe not every home deserves a cat then helping in our Adoption Center at PetSmart or at Meet & Greet Events might be just right down your alley.
FUNDRAISING CREW
Do you love the idea of raising money for a good cause?
Our largest (and most popular) fundraiser is our periodic "garage" sales but they seldom actually happen in a garage. Sometimes they are spill out into a "yard" sale or when we are lucky enough to secure the use of a home (donated for the event) it becomes more of an "estate" sale. Our supporters, fans and adopters LOVE to donate items for these events that we sell to raise money for the rescue. Before the sale volunteers are needed to pick up, sort, price and arrange the sale. Sometimes we even have "volunteer pricing parties"! During the sale volunteers assist shoppers (we have had as many as 1,000 people come through our 3-day sales), cashier, and just keep an eye on everything. After the sale, volunteers help clean up, pack and transport leftovers to other charities. Our annual Sale(s) are a lot of hard work but always a great time.
In the past we have done holiday gift wrapping for donations and set up an information tent at other events which provides a good opportunity to talk to some nice people about their pets and what we do at PAWS-OK. We have done other various fundraising over the years and are always open looking for new ideas for
raising the funds necessary to rescue, vet , foster and find homes for our wonderful cats and kittens.
Ready to
VOLUNTEER?
Here is an
APPLICATION
FOSTER MOMS and DADS
Making our rescues the best they can be!
PAWS-OK is a foster-based rescue. That means that all our rescues are kept in volunteer foster homes from the time
they enter our program until they are adopted. Many go to our Adoption Center at PetSmart and are adopted from
there and some are adopted directly from their foster home. We are super picky about our foster homes and the care,
socialization and training that our rescues have in their foster homes. Simply having a spare room to house a cat or a
litter of kittens does not qualify as a foster home. We require our fostered cats to be crated when not supervised to
prevent injury, illness transmission or damage to the volunteer foster's home. This is often a stumbling point for people
who want to foster for us but experience has shown that most cats are quickly acclimated to a crate and show much better at adoption events and in the Adoption Center when they have crate experience. They get adopted faster! Additionally direct supervision of the cats outside the crate prevents them from developing habits (like scratching the furniture, walking on counter tops, darting out open doors etc) that can result in having them returned to us after adoption. Having other fully vaccinated pets or children in the home is not required but advantageous in assessing the foster cats' preferences. One of the advantages of fostering with PAWS is that foster parents get input when choosing homes for the cats they have fostered. To learn more about fostering, please download our Fostering Guidelines. If you are agreeable with the terms, please contact us for the next step in being approved for fosterin
