Volunteers Make all the Difference
Every homeless animal that comes through our doors is met with compassion, care—and the dedication of our incredible volunteers.
Make a Life-Saving Impact from Home by Crafting Warmies and Blankets!
Help us care for the most vulnerable animals at our shelter by making rice-warmies and fleece blankets—a simple, hands-on way to provide comfort and warmth to those who need it most. Rice-warmies are used to help neonatal puppies and kittens regulate their body temperature. For these tiny babies, warmies are often life-saving. Fleece blankets offer warmth, comfort, and a sense of security for our cats and kittens while they are in our care.
- Students: if you are looking for a meaningful way to volutneer, this is a great at-home option! If you will need us to sign any paperwork to verify your hours, please email us at volunteer@hssv.org to schedule an appointment.
- Rice-Warmies: you’ll need to purchase fabric and rice and have access to a sewing machine or needle and thread. 3 rice-warmies earn you 1 hour of service. Click for instructions.
- Fleece Blankets: you’ll need to purchase fleece. No sewing is required. 5 blankets earn you 2 hours of service. Click for instructions.
- Drop-Off Info: completed items can be dropped off in the blue donation bin at the front of our shelter.
We need your help with laundry
After the fire, most of our laundry machines were damaged—and we’re now caring for even more animals. That means mountains of laundry and only one working washer/dryer to keep up. We’re piloting a 1-month Laundry Assistance Program, and we’re asking for your help.
Here’s how it works:
- Sign-up for a pick-up time
- Take a load (or two!) home
- Wash, dry and return it clean
It’s a small act that makes a big difference for our animal care team—and for the animals who deserve clean, comfy bedding while they heal.
Pick-up appointments available:
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10 am – 1 pm
*PLEASE NOTE: Due to the fire, volunteer recruitment is temporarily on pause. While we don’t yet have a timeline for when opportunities will reopen, we’ll continue to keep this page updated with the latest information.
In the meantime, fostering is highly encouraged and you can find more information on our Fostering page.
You can also learn more about the impact of our fire, including how you can help, on our Fire Relief page.
Thank you for your ongoing patience and support as we work to recover and continue helping animals in need.
Interested in Volunteering with HSSV?
Let us know how you’d like to support HSSV by signing up for roles that interest you.
Volunteers Save Lives
Volunteers make an incredible difference in the lives of the homeless animals that come in through our doors everyday. Foster volunteers like Diane Foxen help us care for the sickest and most vulnerable of those animals: kittens with ringworm. Diane has continued to foster with us during shelter-in-place – even as she works on the front lines as a neonatal nurse. We’re so grateful to Diane for her work, and she’s grateful for the joy her kittens bring her. “These little kittens have been my heroes,” she says.
