Community Service: School obligation or Court-ordered
Program Rules and Regulations
The Animal Rescue League (ARL) will NOT ACCEPT any community service volunteers who have been charged with any violent crimes, acts of violence, theft, animal abuse or sexual offenses - NO EXCEPTIONS. Background checks may be done.
Community Service participants must be at least 15 years of age.
Dress Code: Dress codes are in place for your safety. Wear sneakers, pants, and a shirt/sweatshirt you don’t mind getting dirty. Dress for the weather as some of your time will be spent outdoors. You are not permitted to wear offensive* clothing, low cut shirts, short shorts, sandals, etc. Shorts must come to mid-thigh. Community Service participants will wear red "pinnies" provided by the ARL.
Cell Phones: Cell phones are to remain out of sight during your shift. If you are found using your cell phone during your assigned shift, you will be sent home and unable to complete your hours.
Smoking: While smoking is permitted on the ARL property only in designated areas, you will not be permitted to smoke during your community service hours. If you decide to take lunch and want to smoke, you must sign out and leave ARL property.
Relationships: You may not engage in a relationship and/or date employees of the Animal Rescue League during the time of service. Entering a relationship/dating an employee will result in immediate termination.
Documentation: Community Service volunteers must sign-in when they arrive and sign-out when they leave. No credit will be given for shifts not signed in/out in the notebook, or if a volunteer is sent home due to misconduct. The staff will monitor sign out times and will adjust if they see the times are incorrect. If you must complete any additional paperwork from the court, please tell the Community Service Manager at the beginning of your hours.
Community Service duties include, but are not limited to:
- Garages - organize crates, traps, dry and wet food, box bottoms, litter
- Cleaning - kennels, hallway walls, windows, fans, empty light fixtures of bugs
- Groundskeeping
- Floors – floors will be swept first with a broom and then mopped using Rescue, using wet floor signs when appropriate and using towels to clean up overly wet spots, rugs will be shaken outside and replaced after mopping
- Stairwell – swept and mopped, railings Rescued
- Cleaning, restocking crates and carriers
- Buckets - empty and clean
- Trash - cans in shelter, area around dumpster, clean cans with Rescue
- Scoop - play yards, grounds
- Breakroom - remove trash, replace trash bag, take to dumpster, tabletops, counters, microwave, sort and arrange cabinets
- Education room – tabletops, chairs, counters
- Bathroom – sink, mirror, toilet
- Offices – floors
- Elevator – floor, buttons
- All – light switches, handrails
- All other duties as assigned
Behavior: Swearing, stealing, alcohol and/or drug use, violence towards people and/or animals is not tolerated. These behaviors will result in immediate termination of hours and referral to law enforcement. Volunteers will work quietly and be respectful of office staff who may be on the telephone or in meetings.
Weapons: For the safety and well-being of all individuals at this facility, weapons are strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, firearms, knives, explosives, or any object that could be used to harm others. Any person found carrying a weapon at our facility will be asked to leave immediately and may face legal action depending on the severity of the situation.
Expectations: Community Service volunteers are expected to be on time for shifts, help staff as needed, show initiative in seeking out projects, ask questions if unsure about something, and always demonstrate compassion and humane treatment of animals. You are not permitted to interact with animals in a volunteer manner while completing community service hours.
Completion: Hours not written on the log will not be counted towards completed hours.
Confidentiality: Community Service volunteers are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all proprietary or privileged information to which they are exposed while serving as volunteers, whether this information involves staff members, volunteers, clients, other person(s) or overall ARL business. Failure to maintain confidentiality may result in termination or other corrective action. All Community Service volunteers must sign a Volunteer Agreement, which includes a confidentiality clause as a condition to volunteer. Confidential information includes but is not limited to: animal and client information from our computer system, whether gained through the course of volunteer service or from other sources, shelter or photographs, all records, files, forms, applications, mail lists, passwords, security codes, correspondence, messages or any other entities belonging to the ARL and/or bearing the ARL’s logo and/or name, are the sole property of the ARL and may not be disseminated, used, published or sold without the written consent of the CEO.
Termination: The ARL reserves the right to terminate your community service at any time, without notice.
Hours: The following hours are available to you: Monday - Friday 9:30am - 5pm, Saturday - Sunday 9am - 4pm. Your first shift must be completed during our morning business hours to ensure adequate training. Please do not come to the shelter to begin your hours until you have received an email stating you are approved to participate in the Community Service program, and a specific time and date have been scheduled for training. Service hours completed prior to this email will not be counted toward your time.
Orientation: On your first service day, after all paperwork is completed, you will come to the shelter for training with a member of our staff. Training hours will count toward your total hours.
The Community Service Manager will be your main point of contact while you are at the shelter. Please reach out with any questions to Volunteer@berksarl.org.
*At the discretion of the ARL
