Menu

Homer's Helpers
Youth Volunteers Ways to Get Involved for the Under 18 Crowd

We are contacted every day by amazing young people who care about animals and want to help and we have many opportunities for you to get involved! Here are a few ideas of how you can help. For more information please contact homershelpers@homewardtrails.org

Please note that we are limited in what we can allow youth to help with due to insurance restrictions and safety concerns so we unfortunately do not have opportunities for youth to help in the shelter except during specific events or programs. Scroll down to learn more about our month youth programs. 

Help
Fundraise
Visit
Asset 2

Promote our Adoptable Animals

Help Advertise Events & Adoptable Animals

  • Make signs or flyers for upcoming events
  • Bring the flyers to local businesses in your area and ask permission to post them
  • Make signs or flyers advertising a specific animal (older dogs or pets with special needs that are harder to place)
  • Help publicize events and adoptable animals on social media

Collect Items and Money For the Animals

Fundraising & Supply Drives

  • Organize “Change for Animals” at your school, by seeing which class can collect the most change to donate
  • Donate your birthday, Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah by having friends and family members bring donations for the animals to your party
  • Hold a bake sale, yard sale, or lemonade stand to raise money for the animals
  • Work with neighbors, clubs, schools and local businesses to help organize a donation drive in your community
  • Get creative. We want to hear your ideas!
Asset 2
Asset 1

See HT in Action

Visit Our Adoption Center

  • Help with cleaning, laundry, stuffing Kong and making enrichment toys at our dog Adoption Center (youth over 16 years of age only, by appointment only) ***for safety and liability reasons volunteers must be 18 years of age and older to volunteer around the dogs or during our open adoption hours***
  • Schedule a time for your class, scout troop or church group to visit  the Manny Law Adoption Center located in Fairfax Station, VA to help out and learn about animals (all ages welcome!, by appointment only)

A Few More Ways to Help

  • Ask your family to foster a dog or cat
  • Bake healthy homemade treats for the animals
  • Make catnip toys for cats at the shelter or foster homes
  • Invite us to your school, we love to talk to kids about animal rescue and animal care

Just For Fun

Homer’s Helpers Coloring Sheet

Download Here

Youth Programs

Check out our fun and educational programs designed for young animal lovers!

All programs take place in person at the Homeward Trails Adoption Center located in Fairfax Station, VA. 

Pet Pals Parents Night Out

Children Ages 7-12

Cost: $40 per session

One Friday evening a month – will resume Spring 2024

6:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Parents and caregivers can enjoy a few hours to themselves while the kids have a great time hanging out at the Adoption Center. 

Pet Pals Parents Night Out is mix of humane education and fun for our youngest animal lovers. Each monthly session will follow a theme and feature a short lesson, a project to help the animals, a craft to take home, a movie (maybe with a furry friend), pizza and drinks.

Sign Up

Homer’s Shelter Helpers

Youth ages 13-17

Cost: $25 per session

One Friday evening a month

6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Geared toward our middle and high school age animal advocates the Homer’s Shelter Helpers program is based around community service with a side of fun. We will start each session with dinner and a discussion topic to help youth learn more about understanding animals, shelter operations, and animal advocacy. We will then dive into volunteering around the shelter – sorting donations, cleaning, organizing supplies, making enrichment toys, or caring for our kitties. Youth can earn 2.5 community service hours per session. 

Sign Up

Scout Troop/Club Visits

We are happy to host scout troops and other youth organizations at our Adoption Center. Visits last 1-1 ½ hours and we will assist with badge requirements, visit a few animals and complete a project like making enrichment items for the shelter dogs. There is a requested donation of $5/child to offset the cost of staff time and project supplies. Please email humaneed@homewardtrails.org to schedule. 

Email to Sign Up
YOUTH REGISTRATION AND WAVER FORM FOR PET PALS AND SHELTER HELPERS

Camp Waggin’ Tails – Full for Summer 2024

Youth ages 8-13

Cost: $450 per session

8:30 AM – 3:30 PM daily

Our 2024 Camp Waggin’ Tails session will run from August 5-9

During our week-long camp held at the Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center in Fairfax Station, kids will learn all about animal rescue, responsible pet ownership, positive dog training, hear from a variety of pet professionals, and work hands on with carefully selected adoptable dogs while engaging in fun games and projects designed to reinforce what we have learned.

Registration is $450 per child and includes two daily snacks, all supplies, and a Camp Waggin’ Tails t-shirt.

We only have 15 spots and they will go fast!

If you have any questions about any of these programs please contact rebeccag@homewardtrails.org.

More News from the Trail!

  • Clear the Shelters Adoption Weekend – August 31 and September 1

    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.

  • Helping Happy Hounds – Fee Waived Hound Adoptions

    As you may or may not know, Virginia animal shelters are filled with Hounds. These amazing dogs are most often discarded by callous hunters, found starving wandering the countryside. Many never make it as hunters and are then tied up to chains or left along the side of the road like old furniture. A good number of them do not make it out of shelters alive.But these dogs – like all dogs – are amazing and worthy of families. We just cannot get them families fast enough to stop them from dying in our shelters when there is no more space.And so we are trying something new here. ALL HOUND DOGS ADOPTED FROM HOMEWARD TRAILS WILL BE FREE. Yes, we are WAIVING ADOPTION FEES for Hounds for the foreseeable future.We hope that will entice well-matched applicants to consider a Hound now. Use the money you save on training, treats, toys.We think all dogs are worthy. But the reality is that some take extra incentives. Some have more barriers to getting adopted. And the result is well, more end up dying. And no – this does NOT mean we are just giving dogs away. All applicants will still go through our application/screening process to ensure good homes. This is just us trying to save more dogs by eliminating one more barrier to adoption. And hey, Hound lovers can use all the extra money they can get to buy treats, right?Help us help these Hounds. Our program Helping Happy Hounds is live NOW. Let’s save some lives!

  • Our Current Supply Needs – Can You Help?

    Each year Homeward Trail spends thousands and thousands of dollars on supplies to care for our animals and support the general operations of our organization. We always strive to keep our costs as low as possible so that we can spend every extra dollar saving more lives.  One simple way you can help is by donating these supplies – everything from postage stamps, to cleaning supplies, to ink cartridges and paper, to dog and cat food and litter. Our wish lists are updated regularly so you can always find our most current needs. Please consider donating supplies to help us cover the cost of these items. The more we are able to get donated, the more animals we can help. Thank you! Adoption Center Wishlist Meow Palace Wishlist Dog Enrichment Wishlist Trails Home Farm Wishlist Farmhouse Wishlist Trails UP Wishlist  Puerto Rico Wishlist

More News from the Trail!

  • Clear the Shelters Adoption Weekend – August 31 and September 1

    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.