Volunteer Opportunities
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Happy Endings volunteer. We have a wide variety of opportunities available including:
Requirements & Guidelines to Become a Volunteer
Due to the amount of training we require for our volunteer cleaning positions, we ask for a 3 month commitment of 4-6 hours each week. Volunteers come in for a regularly scheduled recurring shift on the same day and time each week.
Volunteers must be able to read and comprehend detailed policy and protocol information as well as being able to remember and follow shelter rules.
Volunteers must be able to understand and fulfill all responsibilities of their role independently.
Volunteers must be able to physically fulfill the duties of their volunteer role. Most volunteer roles require volunteers to: be able to stand, and/or walk for up to 3 hours; be able to lift and carry up to 20 lbs. Some positions are more physical than others.
Important Notes about Volunteering
We do not offer court-ordered community service. Please contact the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee at 414-344-3933 to see which organizations offer court-ordered community service.
We do not offer group volunteer opportunities for school groups. If a school group is interested in doing a service project, please visit our “Kids Can Help!” page for more information.
Due to limited resources and the required training for each volunteer position, we are not able to offer short-term volunteer experiences.
How to Become a Volunteer
Attend a Volunteer Information Session. The Volunteer Information Session will give you the opportunity to hear about our organization, our volunteer program and expectations, and what our current needs are. Please select a training session when filling out the volunteer application. You must attend the Information Session before you are permitted to volunteer.
All sessions will be held at 5 pm and last 60-90 minutes depending on the number of attendees and the number of questions. Sessions will be held once a month on the first Saturday of the month.
Volunteers interested in positions with direct cat contact must have a current tetanus shot. With parental/guardian consent, we welcome volunteers ages 16 years and up.
If you are performing learning service hours, you MUST indicate this at the time of your application. Failure to do so will result in immediate termination.
Complete the Adult Volunteer Form
Complete the Children’s Volunteer Form (ages 16-18)
Can I be a part of the volunteer program if I have a criminal background?
Happy Endings requires all persons applying to volunteer to indicate any past criminal record and reserves the right to conduct a background check on any volunteer. A criminal background does not necessarily immediately disqualify you from volunteering.