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Volunteer Information

Without our volunteers, Greenhill could not provide its current high level of service to the animals and people of our community!

Current Volunteers

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New Volunteers

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Find out what it's like to volunteer with us...

Volunteer Member Team Values

  • Compassion and responsibility for all animals
  • Consistency and reliability to help us care for our animals
  • Commitment to reducing animal overpopulation

What our volunteers are saying...

Volunteering at Greenhill is incredibly fulfilling and fun, and the experience is its own reward. Not only do you get to be around so many adorable animals, but you also get to help look after and comfort them when they need it. And most rewarding of all, you can participate in the adoption process itself, and get to see (and help bring about) some truly priceless moments. Greenhill is an invaluable asset to the local community - animal and human - and it's one of the reasons I'm proud to have called Eugene my home.
Ishalom
Ishalom
I love coming in every week to visit the animals; knowing that I am enriching their shelter experience and giving them the best chance at finding their forever homes is really fulfilling. I've gained a great deal of dog behavior and handling knowledge from Greenhill, as well as some new friends and experiences! If you love animals and want to make an impact in your community, Greenhill is a great place to do it!
Emma F.
Emma F.
As a volunteer since 2012, I help the animals under our care, support the dedicated staff who work so hard in so many ways, and share our shelter success with our community who truly appreciates the work we do. Volunteering brings direct joy and purpose into MY life! Sign Up, Sign In, and Make a Difference- Volunteer!
Sharon R.
Sharon R.
Volunteering grants me the opportunity to give back to all the animals who gave so much to me throughout my life. They were my reliable best friends and loyal companions. I love seeing the joy on the faces of children and adults when they take home their new family member, not to mention heartwarming reunions of pets and their people. I always feel so appreciated by all of the staff and admire their amazing dedication and giving hearts.
KD D.
KD D.
Volunteering gives you the opportunity to share and care, grow and learn. At Greenhill, you get your thank-you's in words and wags and purrs!
Julia F.
Julia F.
If I’ve learned one thing from my time working at Greenhill, it’s that just a few minutes of your time and attention and energy can make a massive difference in the life of an animal in need. If you’ve ever even considered volunteering at Greenhill, you should do it. What may seem like a small gesture to you could wind up being a huge turning point in the life of an animal that needs to find a loving forever home.
Zack P.
Zack P.

Volunteer Spotlight

February 2026

Diane

Meet Diane, our Volunteer of the Month for February! She has volunteered since September 2024 and recently eclipsed 300 hours of service. Diane holds two recurring weekly shifts as a Dog Enrichment Program volunteer—one spent helping the dogs learn and reinforce positive behaviors in their kennels and one spent taking them out for exercise and walks while continuing to work on reinforcing those behaviors. A longtime dog lover, she chose her work at Greenhill as her first volunteer position after wanting to work with dogs for years; she jokes, “So as soon as I retired completely I signed up and I’ve never regretted it for a minute! Except that time Friendly put her paws on my shoulders and shook her head letting a 12 inch ribbon of drool fly into my hair.”
 
Diane is a lifelong Eugene/Springfield resident, growing up in Springfield before moving to Eugene about 15 years ago. She had exposure to the rewards of rescuing dogs from a very early age, starting when her mother took home the family’s first dog, Minnie Mouse, after finding her abandoned in a mud puddle in a parking lot. The family added a second dog, Lucky, after their vet told Diane’s mother about a puppy who had fallen from a hay loft in a barn and broken both her front legs. The puppy hadn’t been found for several days, so her legs had already begun to knit by the time she was discovered, and her owner had brought her to the vet’s office to be euthanized. Instead, Diane’s family took her home and although her legs were always a little shorter than normal, she lived a happy life and Diane describes her as an “active, wonderful lab.” Later, they rescued Duke, a golden retriever whose breeder rejected him because he didn’t like water, and then their first feline family member, George the cat, who had broken his jaw after being hit by a car and spent the rest of his life drooling excessively even once he had healed. Diane also recalls “Sugar the motorcycle riding poodle, Jessica the tiny terrier and Billy Idol impersonator, and the list goes on. They were always hard luck cases, dogs and cats that no one else wanted. Looking back, it’s no wonder my life experiences have led me to Greenhill. I believe that all animals deserve a safe place to be with people who will take care of them. My work at Greenhill, hopefully, provides some temporary comfort and lots of love to our shelter pups.”
These days, Diane and her husband share their home with their “best furbuddy” Mickey, a 15-year-old Greenhill graduate who has been part of their family for the last 13 years. In her spare time, Diane enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking, going to the gym, and cooking, as well as singing and playing guitar, bass, and drums in her band (which, she clarifies, performs exclusively in the music studio in their basement). She retired in 2017 after spending 25+ years as a middle school teacher for grades 7-8.
 
Diane’s career working with kids prepared her well for her Dog Enrichment Program volunteer role; as with kids, she knows she needs to be prepared for anything when she enters a kennel! Participating in some of Greenhill’s special events has also taught her about the importance of outreach and getting the dogs out in the community. She considers it an honor to be trusted to work with the dogs and loves standing in front of the big DEP whiteboard talking with staff and other volunteers about the fun and memorable experiences they’ve had with dogs that day. She describes the feeling of having a dog open up to her after repeated attempts as magical and adds, “All the crazy things that are happening in the world right now seem to fade away when you are looking into the eyes of a dog who loves you and trusts you. When they lay their tired heads in your lap and just rest it is such a remarkable feeling.”
Diane recalls a particularly rewarding experience with one of those dogs who needed some extra encouragement to open up: “He was a senior gentleman, white, scruffy, horrible breath, really stinky and scared to the point of being curled up in the corner of the kennel. Basically my kind of dog! I sat down across from him and just talked to him. After a few minutes he raised his head and looked at me. I coaxed him along and he slowly unwound and literally crawled on his belly toward me. He allowed me to pet him and then crawled into my lap. He settled down and gave the biggest sigh ever. We spent the next hour just hanging out.  My heart was full.  It was a wonderful hour and I knew that my presence really helped him.  He was adopted the next day!! Sometimes we don’t get to see the impact of our work. But that day reminded me that, whether they show it or not, our pups really benefit from what we do.”