Volunteers of the Month

SAFE is incredibly fortunate to have such amazing volunteers. Each month, we select an exceptional volunteer to honor as our Volunteer of the Month. We ask them to share their stories, including why they decided to start volunteering at SAFE and who their favorite SAFE horses are. It’s a unique insight into what its like to volunteer here. Click here if you’d like to learn more about our volunteer program.

August Volunteer of the Month: Trela Herman

August Volunteer of the Month: Trela Herman 

We are extremely thankful Trela found SAFE. Her hard work, dedication, positivity and “up for any task” attitude is priceless and we couldn’t do it without volunteers like her. Learn a little more about Trela below. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH HORSES?…

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July Volunteer of the Month: Carrie Sjaarda

July Volunteer of the Month: Carrie Sjaarda 

Congratulations to our July Volunteer of the Month, Carrie Sjaarda!! We are unbelievably lucky to have Carrie’s positive and “jump in and help with whatever” attitude. She hit the ground running as soon as she started. Quickly changing from one chore shift, to helping…

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June Volunteer of the Month: Andrea Leger!

June Volunteer of the Month: Andrea Leger! 

Congratulations to our June Volunteer of the Month, Andrea Leger! Andrea has volunteered on both the Wednesday and Thursday PM shift for over a year and a half and also helps with grain baggies and Barn Assisting on Wednesday PM. She is always willing to jump in with…

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May Volunteer of the Month: Caitlin Soden

May Volunteer of the Month: Caitlin Soden 

Congratulations to our May Volunteer of the Month, Caitlin! Caitlin works a full time job and still manages to muster up the energy to spend her weekends volunteering. She even shows up early to help with feeding! The Sunday PM team is very lucky to have her at the…

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April Volunteer of the Month: Bob May

April Volunteer of the Month: Bob May 

We are terribly lucky to have Bob as part of the SAFE volunteer family. He started out volunteering on the Friday PM shift and quickly became involved attending clinics, helping with our events and eventually adding a day on the Facilities Team and recently, Barn…

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March Volunteer of the Month: Yasmin

March Volunteer of the Month: Yasmin 

Congratulations to the March Volunteer of the Month, Yasmin! She has been working on the Wednesday AM team since May 2020 and quickly became a hard working, dedicated volunteer who is consistently reliable and shows up for her team. (And her team loves her!) Often…

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February Volunteer of the Month: Jessica Sprague

February Volunteer of the Month: Jessica Sprague 

Congratulations to February Volunteer of the Month, Jessica Sprague! Jessica started volunteering right at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Since then she has been a reliable, hardworking team member who stepped up to become Shift Lead last October. Since…

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January Volunteer of the Month: Jill Marcell

January Volunteer of the Month: Jill Marcell 

Congratulations to Jill Marcell! Since starting on a PM shift in August 2019, Jill has been a kind, reliable team member, working hard to take care of our horses. Even recovering from a surgery couldn’t keep her away from SAFE. Within a few weeks she picked up a shift…

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December Volunteer of the Month: Paulette Green

December Volunteer of the Month: Paulette Green 

Paulette joined the Thursday PM team in January 2020. It wasn’t much later she shared with me that she lived close and could fill in on shorthanded shifts. Everyone knows that is my dream come true! Paulette has a horse of her own, Gyspy, and has access to that “horse…

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November Volunteer of the Month: Joan Yankis

November Volunteer of the Month: Joan Yankis 

Joan started volunteering last September on the Saturday PM team. It wasn’t long before she reached out to me and asked if it would be helpful if instead of being on a regular schedule, she could just fill in on shorthanded shifts. What?! How could this be? It is…

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October Volunteer of the Month: Melita Shpul

October Volunteer of the Month: Melita Shpul 

Congratulations to Melita Shpul on Volunteer of the Month! Melita started volunteering on the Thursday PM shift in January 2020. Not long after, she also started helping us with our fecal samples, checking for eggs and sand so we can properly treat our horses. You can…

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September Volunteer of the Month: Gizela Berreth

September Volunteer of the Month: Gizela Berreth 

Announcing Gizela Berreth as the September Volunteer of the Month! SAFE is lucky to have Gizela’s cheerful and positive attitude. She is always ready to help with anything we need, even inclement weather, she does it with a smile. Gizela is currently on the Sunday PM…

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