Welcome to the San Francisco Raw Feeders Website!

SFRAW Volunteer Requirement
Volunteering is a mandatory requirement for all members that want to place orders with the group. Our volunteer requirement guidelines and details are explained on this page.

THE RULE: ALL MEMBERS MUST VOLUNTEER 8-HRS. PER CALENDAR YEAR
If you would like to place an order with SFRAW, you must volunteer at least 8-hours per every calendar year (Jan-Dec.). Licensed CA veterinarians that promote raw feeding are exempt from fulfilling the volunteer requirement. This rule applies to every member, every year; it doesn't matter how many times you order during the year, how much product you order, how much we like you, or how many times you have volunteered in the past.

NEW MEMBERS:
VOLUNTEER BEFORE PLACING YOUR FIRST ORDER
New members must complete a volunteer shift first before placing an order with the group - no exceptions.

NON-COMPLIANCE:
FAILURE TO VOLUNTEER BY SEPT. = CANCELLATION + SUSPENSION
We do keep track of when each person volunteers and cross-check this information against a list of those that have orders in each month. Due to non-compliance, we no longer allow members to order with a promise to volunteer in the future. We no longer contact people individually to encourage them to volunteer to get their orders through. If an existing member has ordered, but not yet volunteered at least 3-hrs. by the end of Sept., their order will be cancelled/refunded and not processed until a volunteer job has been actually completed. After completing 8-hours of volunteering, they can start placing orders again.

With the variety of shifts available, and all our volunteer dates for the group being scheduled for the entire year, this makes it pretty easy for people to plan ahead for when they can/want to volunteer. To review the future SFRAW pick-up days, please see our Calendar page.

ONLINE VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP SHEETS AT YAHOO GROUPS
Our volunteer databases/sign-up sheets can be found here. You can sign-up for available jobs during any month listed in advance by adding your name into the appropriate database. If you have any questions, please contact the appropriate Volunteer Coordinator for the month listed.

SPLITTING SHIFTS, WHAT COUNTS, MINIMUM SHIFTS, ETC.
The minimum 8-hour per year requirement does not need to be completed during a single shift. Members can also work a 3-hour minimum shift when splitting full-shifts with other members (working at the SF location on Thursday or Friday 9am-3pm). All jobs have different estimated time commitments/credit; members will be given volunteer credit for the time we have pre-assigned for a particular job or shift (see the Volunteer Jobs page for details).

Time spent communing to/from the pick-up site or job will not be included in your volunteer credit. Members need to actually complete the job they sign-up for to get credit. For example, if you sign-up to do a pick-up type job in advance, but the supplier does not have product for us to pick-up that month, you will not get credit for this job and will need to sign up to do something else to get your volunteer credit. If you sign-up to do a job, but cannot make it for some reason -- you will not get credit for that job and will need to sign-up to volunteer another time.

Members can have their volunteer commitment covered in creative ways: for example, members can have other people volunteer for them (friends, family). Some members of the group are willing to volunteer for other members for food, services, cash, pet-sitting, dog-walking, etc. If you would like to inquire about having another member volunteer for you (getting volunteer credit towards your account) or to volunteer for others, simply post to the list with this offer or request (email: sfraw at yahoogroups.com). You will need to arrange for compensation terms that are satisfactory between you and the other member -- we do not get involved with or oversee these types of arrangements. The member that is volunteering for you must already have their minimum 8-hrs. completed to be eligible to volunteer for other members. This member will need to use your name when signing-up to do a job so we can assign credit to the correct account.

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