hereby agree to the following terms, which shall hereinafter govern the Volunteer’s participation in Rawhide’s Mission, activities and events:
1. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that he or she shall provide services to Rawhide on a voluntary basis. Such services may include, but shall not be limited to assisting in pet adoptions, locating suitable foster homes and/or fostering animals, visiting and walking dogs at kennels and assisting in fundraising efforts.
2. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that the services of the Volunteer shall be without compensation or payment of any kind whatsoever and the Volunteer shall not be entitled to any compensation or payment, including without limitation, insurance, medical benefits or workers’ compensation benefits.
3. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that Rawhide’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) is the sole governing body of Rawhide. The Volunteer further acknowledges and agrees that he or she shall participate as a volunteer at the sole discretion of the Board. Rawhide or the Volunteer may terminate the Volunteer’s participation at any time, with or without notice, for no reason or any reason whatsoever. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the Volunteer terminates his or her participation, the Volunteer agrees to inform Rawhide of said termination and provide a reason therefore.
4. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees to strictly abide by all rules, regulations and policies of Rawhide as prescribed by the Board, as same may be amended from time to time, including without limitation, the policies of Rawhide’s affiliates, such as PetSmart, when applicable. It shall be further understood that Rawhide adheres to the Asilomar Accords and the Volunteer acknowledges and agrees to strictly abide by same to the extent required by the Board.
5. Rawhide believes that all living creatures deserve to be treated with consideration and respect. This includes both animals and participants of Rawhide, volunteers and Board members alike. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that he or she will take no action that creates or is likely to create conflict, discord or dissention within Rawhide or among the other volunteers. Further, the Volunteer acknowledges and agrees to help create an atmosphere that encourages volunteerism and promotes Rawhide’s Mission.
6. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that positive public relations and a good reputation play a vital and important role in the success of a not-for-profit organization such as Rawhide. Accordingly, the Volunteer acknowledges and agrees to the following restrictive covenants, which the Volunteer acknowledges are a reasonable and necessary condition of the Volunteer’s participation in Rawhide, and which are prime inducements for Rawhide’s accepting the Volunteer’s participation. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that: (a) the Volunteer shall not discuss Rawhide, its business, policies or procedures, nor communicate same, whether orally or in writing, with any person, firm, entity, corporation, newspaper, radio station, television journalist, reporter, representative of any other communications media or in or through any online forum or website (collectively “Outsiders”); (b) the Volunteer shall not disparage or otherwise communicate to any Outsiders any information which may be adverse or harmful to Rawhide’s business or reputation, or Rawhide’s officers or trustees, including without limitation, negative comments about any such entity or person, its management methods, policies, practices or financial matters; and (c) The Volunteer shall keep confidential, all non-public information regarding or belonging to Rawhide, including without limitation, donor lists, policies, procedures and intellectual property (“Confidential Information”), and shall not disclose, reveal or publish any such Confidential Information to any Outsider, in any form or medium, without the express written consent of Rawhide, which may be unreasonably withheld.
7. The Volunteer expressly agrees that if he or she has a concern, grievance or desires an issue to be addressed by Rawhide, the Volunteer shall make the concern, grievance or desire known to the Board before resorting to any other process or means of resolution. The Volunteer shall make their concern, grievance or desire known to the Board by providing a written statement to the Volunteer Committee. The Volunteer agrees that the Board shall have sixty (60) days to respond to the Volunteer, which shall be done in the sole discretion of the Board.
8. The Volunteer hereby consents to allow Rawhide to use, publish, copy and/or disseminate, for the purpose of advertising, public relations efforts, pecuniary gain or otherwise, any and all photographs, videos or other likeness of the Volunteer captured or obtained at any time during the Volunteer’s participation in any Rawhide related activity or event.
9. ASSUMPTION OF RISK/DISCLAIMER; READ CAREFULLY. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that his or her participation in any pet adoptions, pet fostering, fundraising or other type of activity or event for or with Rawhide is at his or her own risk. The Volunteer further acknowledges and agrees that working with animals is potentially dangerous and/or harmful to health and the Volunteer voluntarily assumes all risks, including the risk of accident, injury, illness or death, both known and unknown, howsoever arising out of such activities or events. Therefore, in consideration of being permitted to participate in Rawhide activities and events, the Volunteer, on behalf of the Volunteer and his or her heirs, assigns, beneficiaries, administrators, executors and representatives (“Volunteer Parties”), hereby forever releases, discharges, indemnifies and holds harmless, Rawhide, its officers, trustees, employees and agents (the “Rawhide Group”) from and against all claims, costs, injuries, damages, losses, liabilities, and causes of action suffered by the Volunteer or by any other person (“Claims”), including Claims for personal injury, death or damage to personal property, arising from or occurring in connection with the Volunteer’s participation or the participation of any other person in any Rawhide activity or event, including injury, death or damage caused in whole or in part by the negligence or wrongdoing of any member of the Rawhide Group. Further and without limitation of the foregoing, the Volunteer, on behalf of the Volunteer and the Volunteer Parties, hereby expressly waives any such Claim, and the Volunteer or the Volunteer Parties shall indemnify and hold harmless all members of the Rawhide Group from and against any such Claim (including attorneys fees and costs incurred in defending or investigating a Claim).
10. The Volunteer acknowledges and agrees that the terms of this Agreement shall survive termination of the Volunteer’s period of participation with Rawhide for any reason whatsoever. The Volunteer further acknowledges and agrees that this Agreement and the terms hereof shall be binding on the Volunteer and the Volunteer Parties. If any provision of this Agreement, or any portion thereof, is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions or portions shall not be affected thereby and shall remain in full force and effect. Further, any such provision, or portion thereof, that may be held invalid or unenforceable shall be deemed limited or modified to the extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable in accordance with applicable law, and a Court of competent jurisdiction shall have the right to “blue pencil” the Agreement to the extent that the Agreement and each of its provisions will be binding and enforceable.
I acknowledge that I have read this Agreement in its entirety; I fully understand and voluntarily accept all of its terms.
