I want to volunteer : How You Have Helped
Volunteers Make A Difference For The Animals!
Adoption Support
A number of dedicated volunteers provide invaluable assistance to staff seven days a week in the Adoptions Department. These volunteers have become familiar faces at the shelter as they help introduce animals to new families, assist with paperwork, and ensure excellent customer service. Their help was especially appreciated in January when the Seattle Humane Society had a record breaking 436 adoptions - an all time high for the month of January! As the adoption support volunteers know, there is nothing more gratifying than watching deserving shelter animals go home to great families.
Volunteer Highlight: Heidi Boynton 
Heidi Boynton has been volunteering with the Seattle Humane Society for over a decade in a variety of roles: foster parent, donation pick up committee chair for Tuxes & Tails, and holiday pet food drive volunteer. For the past 11 years Heidi has participated in our annual holiday pet food drive by monitoring donations at Safeway stores in Kent, Federal Way, Auburn and Renton. "It's rewarding to me when I show up at a store and see that my barrel is full. It reminds me that there are many people in the community who also care about animals." Heidi believes in the Seattle Humane Society's mission of bringing people and pets together, and that's just one of the reasons she enjoys volunteering. "Participating in the pet food drive also allows me the opportunity to help both animals and people who may not have the ability to feed their pets." In addition to helping with the holiday pet food drive, Heidi is also the Tuxes & Tails donation pick up committee chair. As the chair, she assigns the volunteers on her committee to various donation pick ups to be sure that all auction items are secured prior to Tuxes & Tails. Heidi is so dedicated to her position that she even takes several days off of work before the auction to make sure that all donations are picked up! Many thanks to Heidi for all that she does to benefit the shelter.
Annual Holiday Pet Food Drive
Thanks to all you dedicated volunteers, the Holiday Pet Food Drive was a huge success! The food drive expanded throughout all of King County, and included the time and effort of 55 Seattle Humane Society volunteers. Volunteers were allowed to decorate their barrels in any festive way they chose and were responsible for placing and monitoring their barrels in various stores throughout the county. Our major partner was Safeway, with barrels in more than 50 stores! All together, more than 15 tons of food was collected! This food will go to good use helping to sustain the pets of low-income seniors and people in our Pet Project program who are disabled by AIDS. We would all like to extend a huge thanks to all the volunteers involved in the pet food drive and for helping to make it such a success. Thank you, everyone!
Dog Socialization & Playgroups
On any given Thursday or Friday morning you are likely to encounter a group of gleeful shelter dogs romping and socializing in our auditorium. Four dedicated volunteers facilitate these playgroups: Ali Johnson, Laura Scholten, Sandy Dain, and Laura McCann. The purpose is to help our shelter guests build social skills, improve their training, and get exercise – all important components of making successful and lasting placements with adoptive families. Approximately 60 volunteers are involved with the shelter's Dog Behavior & Socialization (DBS) program and their work is greatly appreciated. Day after day and season after season they show up to interact with the dogs and help keep them comfortable and happy. Not only are we grateful for the efforts of our DBS volunteers, the dogs certainly are too!