Volunteer Opportunities

July 3, 10:55 pm

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Volunteer Opportunities

Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary is dependent upon our hard-working, committed volunteers to keep operating. We simply could not continue without this volunteer help, and always need more people to give their time to help care for the animals.

Below is a list of many of the volunteer opportunities we offer. If you would like to volunteer, please complete our volunteer application available as an online form or download the PDF.

Socializing Needy Animals
Many rabbits who come to us are scared of people, have not been around other rabbits, or have been neglected or mistreated and need extra TLC. Socializing is a great job for anyone who wants to make a real difference in the lives of newcomers to the sanctuary, and it is also a great job for anyone with physical limitations. The rabbits will appreciate your spending 15 minutes or more just holding and caressing and speaking softly to one of them at a time. You will have a friend for life!

Feeding Breakfast or Dinner
Feeding is our most basic chore, and takes about 3-4 hours for a fully-trained volunteer (this includes cleaning chores which must be done at least daily). This is a great way to spend time with the animals and also help with a vital function of the sanctuary. We always need more volunteers to help feed. Many of our volunteers find feeding to be a great stress reliever from their workaday responsibilities. It is also somewhat physical and good exercise for someone stuck in an office all day. Most especially, it is the best way to make friends with all the rabbits, as they will come hopping to you when they see you are there with food!

Transportation to Veterinarian
Most of our volunteers work full-time during business hours, so it is always difficult finding people to take sick rabbits to the vet in Ann Arbor or new arrivals to the humane society for spaying or neutering. If you can help with this, please contact us.

Cleaning Pens/Cages/Barns
Some cleaning needs to be done everyday, while other cleaning jobs are done monthly or even less often. Rabbits love to help with cleaning – they enjoy making piles of the straw you are raking up, or digging new burrows in the sand for you to maneuver around. Their excitement over a clean, fresh-smelling barn really makes the sweat worthwhile! This is a good job for individuals who are unable to commit to a regular time or can help out only occasionally.

Performing Health Checks and Grooming
As often as possible we need to round up all the rabbits who live here permanently and check them for any possible health issues. This can be challenging, as some of these rabbits do not like to be handled and have dug an extensive network of tunnels in their yards which they use to hide from us. Health checks are generally performed on a weekend when several volunteers knowledgeable about rabbit health and how to clip nails are available.

Pick Up and Delivery of Produce Donations
We are fortunate to receive donations of produce from The Produce Station, Busch’s and Whole Foods Market, all in Ann Arbor. This food must be picked up daily. If you don’t mind driving but don’t have time to feed or do other chores this is a great way to help out. Contact us for days currently not covered by volunteers.

Photography
We always need good photos of our residents, for our website, sponsors, newsletter, and marketing. If you like to take pictures, or are a professional photographer willing to donate your services, we’d love to hear from you!

Grounds Maintenance
It is always a struggle for us to keep the grass mowed. Trees and shrubs need to be trimmed, and flowers planted to beautify the sanctuary. We also have gardening chores to do, as we grow dandelion and other greens for the rabbits, and would like to do more of this.

Fundraising or Grant Writing
Do you have fundraising skills? Experience with grant writing? Contact us!

Construction/Electrical Projects
We constantly seek to improve the sanctuary and make needed repairs, so there are always projects that we need skilled volunteers to work on. If you have any experience with such jobs we would love your help!

Volunteer Recruitment
Do you have ideas as to how we can better get the word out that we need more volunteers to help care for the animals? We are always short of help, and if you have recruitment ideas we really want to hear from you!

Publicity/Newsletter
Do you have skills and knowledge about marketing or copy-writing? Let us know!

Office Work
We often have office tasks that need to be done, whether it is preparing a newsletter for mailing or writing thank you’s to our supporters. This is something that can be done from your own home.

Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary Volunteer Training
Is currently done on a one-to-one basis. Waterproof work gloves and sturdy footwear recommended. Volunteers must sign a liability release form. You may print liability release forms from this website.