Volunteer Newsletter

January 2024

Our Utmost Thanks

Happy January!

Wow - what a year 2023 was for our volunteer team at KC Pet Project! Your commitment has had such a far-reaching impact on the fulfillment of the mission and vision of our organization and is felt by every animal in our care. In 2023, volunteers served over 26,000 more hours than in the previous year - a testament to your passion, dedication, and continued support of our work.

2023 was another record-setting year for our organization, with our shelter caring for nearly 16,000 pets - the highest number in Kansas City's history. As we continue to navigate these triumphs and challenges, one thing is for certain: we could not do the work we do without folks like you.

We are excited for what 2024 will bring for both our organization and department, and we look forward to sharing in this journey with you!

Meet Your Team!

Bird Prado

Volunteer Engagement Coordinator

Caitlyn Campbell

Volunteer Program Administrator

We're here for you!

Questions? Concerns? Ideas for improving the volunteer experience? We always want to hear from you! Pop by the office any day of the week to chat with one of your volunteer department staff members or send us an email at volunteer@kcpetproject.org!

Volgistics Account Updates

It's that time of year to make sure your Volgistics' account is up to date!

We ask that you please make sure all of your contact information in Volgistics is current and your profile is up to date for 2024. This includes adding an updated profile photo - instructions on how to do so below!

Profile Photos in Volgistics

This is a perfect example of a great profile picture in Volgistics!

Please follow these guidelines:

Staring at the camera
Clear photo of your face
Please do not wear sunglasses
Please do not wear a hat
No full body profile pictures

Volunteer Opportunity Spotlight

Looking for new volunteer opportunities? Check out these options below and help make a greater impact at our shelter locations!

NEW for 2024 - Kennel Cleaning at KCCAC: One of the most basic ways to improve a dog's quality of life (QOL) is to maintain a clean-living environment. On an average day, the canine care team has 9 or fewer staff members responsible for the care of up to 270 dogs - that's 30 dogs (and kennels) per person! Dogs must completely vacate their kennels in order for them to be cleaned. This is accomplished by either taking the dogs to playgroup or walking them around our campus. Volunteers who can help clean kennels while staff handle dogs can reduce cleaning protocol time by nearly half! This, in turn, helps staff give more time to our shelter dogs and increases their QOL! Finishing cleaning our dog districts on time also improves customer service and cuts the wait time for potential adopters - and that means more dogs in forever homes! Cleaning kennels is a foundational piece of the volunteer program, requires minimal training, and offers one of the biggest impacts volunteers can make for both our staff and shelter dogs. Shifts will be posted soon, beginning at 8:30 AM and ending at 12:30 PM daily!

Petco Cat Habitats: Our Petco Cat Habitat program is entirely run by volunteers and is a wonderful opportunity for those who work well independently! With locations all over the metro area, there is sure to be a Habitat near you! Our Petco Cat Habitats are overseen by the wonderful Gage Mofield, our Petco Cat Habitats Manager. Interested in getting involved? Make sure to complete the online Intro to Shelter Cats video and assessment and reach out to Gage at gage.mofield@kcpetproject.org!

Donation Specialist: The holiday season is a time of giving, and we are still receiving LOTS of wonderful material donations at our shelter. Donation specialists assist in sorting through all of these amazing items and distributing them to the various departments around our main campus. Shifts are offered on select days of the week at our main campus, but feel free to connect with us between your other scheduled times to help organize donations in our donation garage. Not so keen on organizing but enjoy driving? We will also be adding a volunteer donation transportation role very soon! This will simply be picking up and driving donated goods from our Zona Rosa and Petco locations down to our main campus!

Meet the KCPP Department of the Month

Have you ever been curious about all of the amazing things our other departments do? Each month we will be highlighting one of our phenomenal teams in an effort to introduce you to all the work that our staff does to maintain a standard of excellence at KC Pet Project. This month, we'd like to say hello to our ...

Behavior and Enrichment Team

The Behavior and Enrichment Team is responsible for two primary facets of our animal care: 1) they facilitate enrichment to animals in our care to provide outlets for expression of natural behavior and reduce the impact of the stress, and 2) they provide behavior assessments and develop behavior plans for animals in our care to increase their adoptability. Our Behavior and Enrichment team also works 1:1 with adopters to provide behavior counseling pre- and post-adoption in an effort to cultivate knowledgeable and confident pet owners and promote successful pet retention in the home!

Safety is the #1 priority of the Behavior and Enrichment Team. Under the direction of behavior staff, KCPP teams (including volunteers) follow specific handling procedures to both protect us when interacting with shelter animals AND set up our shelter animals for success! These protocols are the foundation for creating consistency and structure for our shelter animals and they help mitigate any potential accidents!

Did you know? Our Behavior and Enrichment staff oversee our canine playgroups! Playgroups are such a crucial part of our enrichment program at KC Pet Project, and our B&E team works their magic to make it happen. Playgroups give our dogs the opportunity to socialize with one another and help staff learn more about the individual personalities of each of the dogs to better communicate information with other staff and potential adopters. Trained volunteers directly assist our B&E staff with playgroups by helping run dogs from kennels, to play yards, and back - an opportunity that those currently dog walking or interested in dog walking can progress to!

Next time you're at our main campus, make sure to thank a behavior team member - their hard work and dedication to our animals are an integral part to the fulfillment of KCPP's mission!

Mark Your Calendars!

KC Pet Project 5K

Date: April 13th, 2024

Join KC Pet Project on Saturday, April 13th to participate in our annual KC Pet Project 5K! You’ll have the opportunity to run or walk to support the care of 16,000 pets that will come through our shelter this year and do so while enjoying a beautiful race through Swope Park.

Click here to learn more and register!

Use the promo code "KCPPVOL24" to receive a 10% discount as a KCPP Volunteer!"

We will communicate more information in our next monthly email regarding event volunteer opportunities!

Volunteer Spotlight

Meet Stacey Smith

When you need a "jack of all trades",

Stacey is your person!

Stacey has been a regular volunteer with KC Pet Project since 2018 and serves in multiple capacities at not just our main campus, but our satellite locations too. From serving as a Petco Cat Habitat Captain, to scrubbing dog kennels, to even leading onsite Girl Scout programs, Stacey can do it (and does it) all!

Stacey jokes that volunteering at KC Pet Project helps keep her from shopping, but she really loves the opportunity to get out of the house and dedicate her free time to working with both cats and dogs.

And one of her favorite things about volunteering at KCPP? It's watching her foster dogs go to their forever homes!

Next time you see Stacey around one of our locations, make sure to say hello!

Winter Weather Reminders

January & February

Dog walkers may use indoor meet and greet rooms during cold weather to provide physical enrichment for a dog (please remember the canine must be in your walk color to have this privilege). If adoptions or canine care staff need the room, they will gently knock, and we ask that you politely provide the space as soon as possible.

We kindly ask everyone to pick up after their canine in the yards, hallways, and walking grounds.

Check our KCPP Volunteer Facebook page for winter weather updates and how they pertain to volunteers!

Volunteer Resources: Here for YOU!

Volgistics

Your Volgistics dashboard is packed with important information, including links to online animal-handling trainings, helpful tools and resources, KC Pet Project info, both the Volunteer Handbook and Guidebook, and more.

Click the button to log into your account below!

Volunteer Dashboard

Volunteer Facebook Group

Want to stay up to date on all the things happening at KC Pet Project? Join our Volunteer Facebook group today! The main Facebook group is the primary online communication channel for ALL volunteers and fosters. We hope to see you there!

Click the button below!

Facebook Group

We can't wait to see you at KC Pet Project!