Volunteer

Volunteer with MABCR

Boots on the ground support is always in high demand at MABCR – on-site and off. There is not a “typical” volunteering experience, rather, our volunteers tend to make their own way to find where they are most comfortable. The projects change as the needs of the dogs and farm do, as well as special skills or talents our volunteers bring to the table! Please read below about some of the opportunities to volunteer with MABCR. You can find our volunteer application in the drop down menu below “Volunteer.”

In-person volunteering

Some examples of work volunteers have done in the past include assisting with Collies and Coffee, scrubbing and refreshing crates, doing laundry, and bathing dogs. Running and maintaining the rescue requires upkeep of the property that Border Collies need – past projects have included farm hand work such as installing fencing, feeding the chickens, laying brick, mulching, trimming shrubs, painting, cleaning, clearing brush, plant trees, making dog toys, and mailing fundraising letters. 

MABCR is able to accommodate groups of volunteers upon request, and as schedules allow.

Remote volunteering

Many of our volunteers do not live locally – in fact, many don’t live in the state of Maryland! Some examples of remote volunteer opportunities are supporting our media team with creating content for social media and the blog, become adoption counselors, conducting home visits for potential adopters, coordinating virtual fundraisers, graphic design, as well as assessing dogs in shelters, or assisting with transports.

Fostering

One of the toughest parts of rescue work is having to turn dogs away because we are often at capacity. Some of our more experienced volunteers foster in order to help us expand our impact on the number of dogs we can assist.

Fostering helps our dogs shine. It helps pups get exposure to new people, places, and things, as well as learning a household routine. All of these things help make a dog easier to adopt to their new family. We do not currently offer a foster-to-adopt program — which can be very appealing to folks who have trouble saying ‘no’! We invite anyone with an interest in fostering to contact Sarah directly at SLR@mabcr.org.
Please note that foster homes must be within 50 miles driving distance of Chestertown, and foster homes must have the ability to assist with moving their foster dogs to and from the farm.

Transport

Even though you may not live in Maryland, you can make a difference! From time to time we find a dog that is in a shelter somewhere other than Maryland that we feel we can help. Sometimes they’re short treks, other times the journey is broken up into multiple legs across multiple days between several volunteers to help get the dog to the farm. Some of those transport treks have been thousands of miles!

If you’re interested in being a part of the transport team, please contact Sarah directly at SLR@mabcr.org.