Opportunity Details

The Water Bowls for Animals initiative is a compassionate effort to provide hydration to stray animals during the scorching summer months when water becomes scarce. Stray animals, often overlooked, face immense challenges in finding clean drinking water, especially in urban areas with limited natural water sources. Recognizing this, we distribute over 1,150 water bowls annually across cities and nearby regions, ensuring these animals have access to fresh water when they need it most.

This project is not just about meeting the basic needs of strays; it’s about fostering a community that values and cares for all living beings. By addressing this critical need, we aim to ease the lives of countless animals while raising awareness about their struggles, encouraging people to adopt more compassionate practices in their everyday lives.

To make this initiative more engaging and inclusive, we organize water bowl painting drives, primarily held at our shelter. These interactive sessions allow volunteers—both individuals and groups—to add a personal touch to the bowls while connecting with the cause. Participants leave not only with beautifully painted bowls but also with a deeper understanding of the importance of animal welfare.

Through the Water Bowls for Animals project, we hope to inspire a culture of kindness and responsibility, where every community member plays a role in creating a better world for our four-legged companions.

Opportunity Details

The Seed Ball Making initiative reflects our unwavering commitment to enhancing green cover and promoting environmental conservation. As part of this program, we organize engaging events where participants collaborate to produce and distribute approximately 900 seed balls annually. These seed balls, containing seeds of native plant species, are carefully designed to foster greenery and rejuvenate natural habitats.

What makes this initiative special is its emphasis on community involvement. By providing these seed balls free of charge, we empower individuals, corporates, schools, and volunteers to actively contribute to restoring ecosystems and combating deforestation. This hands-on experience instills a sense of ownership and responsibility toward environmental sustainability.

We regularly host seed ball-making drives at our shelter, offering participants a chance to witness and be part of our conservation efforts. Additionally, upon request, we extend these activities to external locations, ensuring broader participation and impact. Through these collaborative efforts, we aim to inspire a collective movement toward a greener, healthier planet.

Opportunity Details

The Bring Back Sparrows initiative is a dedicated effort to address the alarming decline in sparrow populations within urban areas, primarily caused by habitat loss and the lack of safe nesting spaces. Urbanization has disrupted the natural ecosystem, leaving these iconic birds struggling to survive. After extensive research, we devised an effective solution to this pressing issue: creating and distributing sparrow boxes to provide these birds with safe nesting areas where they can thrive.

In 2023 alone, we successfully distributed 2,080 sparrow boxes, significantly contributing to the restoration of sparrow populations in urban environments. Beyond the tangible impact, this initiative also raises awareness about the importance of protecting local wildlife and emphasizes the need for sustainable, eco-friendly living in cities.

What sets this project apart is its community-driven approach. Volunteers play a vital role in crafting these sparrow boxes, transforming simple materials into lifelines for these birds. By participating, individuals not only contribute to the survival of sparrows but also learn about urban biodiversity and the importance of creating spaces where wildlife can coexist with human development.

The Bring Back Sparrows project is more than just a conservation effort; it’s a movement to inspire urban communities to take ownership of their environment and build a harmonious relationship with nature. Together, we can ensure sparrows once again become a vibrant part of our urban landscapes.

Opportunity Details

We need individuals who can commit 2-3 hours each week to help us care for the birds in our care. We primarily work with birds of prey, waterbirds and woodpeckers. Opportunity includes: Cleaning Cages, preparing food and feeding birds, assisting with treatments, laundry, general cleaning, and whatever else the birds might need. Our goal is to rescue, rehabilitate and release back into the wild, the birds we care for. The date listed below is our orientation date and time. The Volunteer opportunity is ongoing and depends on your availability.

Available Shifts

Shift Name	Signup Max	Start	End
Wildlife Rehabilitator Category 4	no limit	n/a	n/a
Carpentry Crew/ Cage Maintenance	no limit	n/a	n/a
Crate Cleaner	no limit	n/a	n/a
Social Media Support	no limit	n/a	n/a

Opportunity Details

Become a #FoodRescueHero for Kentucky Harvest!

As much as 40% of food goes to waste while 1 in 7 households go hungry. Become a #FoodRescueHero and be part of the solution.

In as little as 45 minutes of your time, you can rescue perfectly good food from going to waste and deliver it to nonprofits who serve people experiencing food insecurity.

Set your preferences for when you want to do food rescues.

Get alerts when rescues become available. Choose rescues that fit your schedule. Rescue everyday, every week or just give it a try.

#FoodRescueHeroes get information on where to pick up the food and where to drop it off — we’ll guide you every step of the way.

Because you’ll drop off directly to organizations that distribute food, you can see firsthand the impact you are making on hunger.

Take a selfie with your rescue and share on social media to spread the word about Kentucky Harvest and inspire your friends to be food rescue heroes!

Opportunity Details

About Veganuary

Our mission is to inspire and support people around the world to try vegan for January and beyond. Millions of people all over the world have taken part since we began in January 2014.

What is the Veganuary Workplace Challenge?

The Veganuary Workplace Challenge is a 31-day challenge that encourages your workforce to try vegan for the month of January. We're looking for people to support our cause by becoming Veganuary Workplace Champions!

What does a Workplace Champion for Veganuary do?

The main goal of a Veganuary Workplace Champion is to motivate colleagues to join our 31-day challenge and try vegan in January. By sharing Veganuary’s resources and highlighting the benefits of taking part, your enthusiasm can really inspire others!

Here are some other fun ideas you could try:

• Set Up Fun Office Games and Activities: Get employees involved with activities like a word search or quiz. You could host an activity lunch or an online event to bring everyone together.

• Host a "Lunch & Learn" Event: Organize a film screening, a vegan-themed TED Talk, or invite a guest speaker to motivate your team. Explore thought-provoking documentaries and other resources in our toolkit.

• Order Vegan-Friendly Snacks: Take advantage of the special vegan offers available in January. You could even arrange a plant-based buffet for an office meeting or treat your colleagues to tasty plant-based snacks.

• Plan a Team Cook-along: Invite a keen cook from your team to lead a Zoom cook-along. It’s a fun and interactive way to try new vegan recipes together.

• Organize a Sanctuary Visit or Volunteer Day: Visit a local animal sanctuary for an engaging and educational day out for your team. It’s a meaningful way to learn, connect and give back.

Some of the benefits of encouraging your team to take part include:

• Promotes health and wellbeing among staff
• Demonstrates commitment to sustainability and helping the environment
• Creates a fun and engaging challenge for staff
• Offers great PR opportunities if you’d like to get involved publicly

This is a fantastic opportunity to be an advocate for animals, the planet and to truly make a difference! To learn more about the Workplace Challenge and be a champion for your business, discover our toolkit here: https://veganuary.com/get-involved/workplace-challenge.

Available Shifts

Shift Name	Signup Max	Start	End
General	no limit	n/a	n/a

Opportunity Details

About Veganuary

Our mission is to inspire and support people around the world to try vegan for January and beyond. Millions of people all over the world have taken part since we began in January 2014.

What is the Veganuary Workplace Challenge?

The Veganuary Workplace Challenge is a 31-day challenge that encourages your workforce to try vegan for the month of January. We're looking for people to support our cause by becoming Veganuary Workplace Champions!

What does a Workplace Champion for Veganuary do?

The main goal of a Veganuary Workplace Champion is to motivate colleagues to join our 31-day challenge and try vegan in January. By sharing Veganuary’s resources and highlighting the benefits of taking part, your enthusiasm can really inspire others!

Here are some other fun ideas you could try:

• Set Up Fun Office Games and Activities: Get employees involved with activities like a word search or quiz. You could host an activity lunch or an online event to bring everyone together.

• Host a "Lunch & Learn" Event: Organise a film screening, a vegan-themed TED Talk, or invite a guest speaker to motivate your team. Explore thought-provoking documentaries and other resources in our toolkit.

• Order Vegan-Friendly Snacks: Take advantage of the special vegan offers available in January. You could even arrange a plant-based buffet for an office meeting or treat your colleagues to tasty plant-based snacks.

• Plan a Team Cook-along: Invite a keen cook from your team to lead a Zoom cook-along. It’s a fun and interactive way to try new vegan recipes together.

• Organise a Sanctuary Visit or Volunteer Day: Visit a local animal sanctuary for an engaging and educational day out for your team. It’s a meaningful way to learn, connect and give back.

Some of the benefits of encouraging your team to take part include:

• Promotes health and wellbeing among staff
• Demonstrates commitment to sustainability and helping the environment
• Creates a fun and engaging challenge for staff
• Offers great PR opportunities if you’d like to get involved publicly

This is a fantastic opportunity to be an advocate for animals, the planet and to truly make a difference! To learn more about the Workplace Challenge and be a champion for your business, discover our toolkit here: https://veganuary.com/get-involved/workplace-challenge.

Available Shifts

Shift Name	Signup Max	Start	End
General	no limit	n/a	n/a

Opportunity Details

The Coastal Corridor Alliance (CCA), formerly Banning Ranch Conservancy, is taking the Santa Ana River Coastal Corridor (the tidal influence zone) under our wing to help clean it up and restore its habitats. Join us!

You and the community are invited to join the Conservancy at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa from 9 am - 11:30 am, every 3rd Saturday.

We've adopted a degraded area in Fairview Park to restore to native habitat. We...

- Remove invasive plants
- Collect native seeds
- Plant natives
- Care for the young plants until they are established, by watering and maintaining the soil
- Remove debris in the soil

Along the way we'll be learning which plants we see around us and what their role or impact is on our local habitats, which animal species they attract, and more. This is an amazing opportunity for hands-on learning for how to better care for our local environment!

Available Shifts

Shift Name	Signup Max	Start	End
Restoration Volunteer	50	n/a	n/a

Opportunity Details

Thanks for your interest in protecting our local beach and river mouth from trash and pollution. We'll learn about our watershed and the threatened and endangered species that rely on our protection as we work to clean up.

We begin at 9 am with a quick huddle to answer some questions and discuss the importance of our waterways, habitats, and fighting pollution.

The Santa Ana River watershed drains the water and waste of three counties at this site. That's the trash and pollution from over six million people living in Southern California's largest watershed, which empties in to the Pacific Ocean. Cleaning up our beach reduces pollution from this primary regional waterway. It also helps all our local animal friends including endangered shorebirds, such as California Least Tern and Western Snowy Plover.

Available Shifts

Shift Name	Signup Max	Start	End
Beach Clean Up Volunteer Shift	50	n/a	n/a

Opportunity Details

In order to make WESEF a success, we need over 400 judges each year.

While many of our judges continue to volunteer year after year, we are still looking for medical and mental health professionals, research scientists, biochemists, pharmacists, engineers, environmentalists, veterinarians and computer scientists to volunteer to watch student presentations of their research via poster at our annual science fair.
The top winners will represent our region at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
------------------------------
JUDGE QUALIFICATIONS…
Currently enrolled in a graduate program (M.S., M.A., M.Ed, D.O., Ed.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., Ph.D, M.D, etc.)
OR
Bachelor’s degree + 2 years of job-related experience
OR
Current or retired professional holding an advanced degree and/or experience working in any of the scientific fields represented at WESEF. This includes school psychologists, social workers, registered nurses, EPA, DEA professionals, etc.

NOT eligible to judge: Current K-12 teachers unless holding a PhD and not currently teaching Science Research students.

Basic Information for the Day of the Fair (Saturday, March 15, 2025):
A light breakfast and full catered lunch will be provided
Each judge will receive a ‘thank you’ gift from WESEF
The judging rubric is available in the “For Judges” section of the www.wesef.org website
------------------------------
THE JUDGING PROCESS
Projects will be presented via poster. Each project will likely have 3-5 official judge interviews. The students should be prepared to give a 7-8 minute uninterrupted summary of their research. Judges are then permitted 5 minutes for Q&A.

There will be official judging periods which will be posted – we will NOT be using bells this year based upon feedback from prior years.

Please try to stick to the schedule – you MUST give students the full time to present. Judges will then have a 5 minute window to score rubrics and move to the next presentation.

Judges will submit rubrics electronically using their cell phones. PLEASE BRING YOUR PHONE FULLY CHARGED so you are ready to go.

In some cases, Special Awards Judges will also meet with and interview students.

Under no circumstances should a Judge review a student project for which there may be a conflict of interest.

Judges are asked to recuse themselves from any projects where they do not feel they can fairly assess a student project.
------------------------------
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT JUDGING AT WESEF
Q: Is there any special training needed to be a judge?
A: No. However, detailed instructions and the grading rubric/score-sheet will be sent via email. An optional, Zoom-based workshop will also be available. More information will be sent via email.

Q: Will I be able to see the projects I will be judging, in advance?
A: No. Judging assignments may change before or during the fair, for a variety of reasons.

Q: How many projects will I be asked to judge?
A: Approximately 10.

Q: How do I judge/rate/score the students?
A: Judges use an online/digital scoring rubric/score-sheet on their cell phone or tablet and submit after each presentation
is completed.

Q: What is the approximate time commitment for the day?
A: From 8:30am to 3:00pm

Q: Do I have to judge a project if the project is out of my knowledge area?
A: No. However, we suggest that you review the poster and grade the project and presentation based on the
rubric/score-sheet . If you are still not comfortable with the topic, you can contact the judge liaison in the building and
ask for a different project to judge.

Q: Do I have to judge a project if I have a connection/conflict with the school that the student comes from or if I
know the student?
A: No. After seeing the poster and the student, you can contact the judge liaison in the building and ask for a different
project to judge.

Q: Will food be provided?
A: Yes. A light breakfast and catered lunch will be provided.
If you have additional questions...
Contact us at WESEFJudges1@gmail.com

Available Shifts

Shift Name	Signup Max	Start	End
Judge	no limit	n/a	n/a