Why we love her: Sharon wears many volunteer hats at The Shea Center: Leader, sidewalker, barn crew, groomer/bather, and military program volunteer. Whew! Pre-pandemic, she participated in our large-scale events, including Back to Shea Day, Foster Family Day, and EFMP...
Denise W. - Volunteer of the Year If we could describe the ideal volunteer, it would be someone who is happy to be at Shea, shows up on schedule, is flexible, and comes with a teachable spirit. Denise Wishney embodies every single one of those traits. From the moment...
How to celebrate volunteerism during this era and time? Drive-thru celebration! The need to celebrate compassion, dedication, and loyalty in our volunteers made for a special day at our first ever volunteer celebration - drive-thru style! To see over 100 cars filled...
Departures, arrivals, boarding times, crew members…the barn on a busy day of therapeutic/adaptive riding is a lot like a metropolitan airport: lots of moving parts, and timing is everything. Ground zero for organizing all the activity is our white board. This is the...
You need me to work in the barn? Great, I’m here! You need me to sidewalk for someone? Great, I’m here! You need me to help with a mount or a dismount? Great, I’m here! You need me to lead for a session? Great, I’m here! Those were the words of our Shea Center...
Additional training to become a horse leader is available for our volunteers. No horse experience is required, but we do encourage new volunteers to first “get their feet wet” by volunteering at the barn before taking the class. Pre-requisites for this class include...
Long before the first client rider of the day arrives at The Shea Center, our horses have been groomed, tacked, exercised, and prepped for their lessons. It takes a lot of man (and woman) hours to get our herd of 25 horses ready for the day. The staff at The Shea...
The Shea Center established the Advanced Volunteer Program to ensure that new volunteers have a streamlined first day. With this team of 23 volunteers, we are able to offer extra training to those who would like more one-on-one instruction before beginning to work...
Our turn-out team is a new volunteering position our Volunteer Services Manager, Christina Lee, has arranged, to be sure our herd receives their well-deserved “time off” from their busy work schedules. These volunteers have excellent horsemanship skills and feel...
Joy Kirby is our volunteer of the month! She learned of The Shea Center through her son’s girlfriend, Taylor Jepsen, who has been a Shea Center volunteer for a year. After hearing about Taylor’s positive experiences at the Center, Joy signed on as a volunteer this...