Each year, Hope For Horses trains about more than a hundred people who want to volunteer their time and talents.  In an average month, volunteers contribute over 400 hours to all aspects of what we do.  Many people come and go over the years, but lots of them have been with us for three years or more.

They come from all walks of life - there’s  Nancy the artist, and Rianna who was a “meter maid,” Geoff who holds a PhD in biochemistry, Margaret and Tori and Caya and Joanna who are students, Christopher who’s a chef, and Shannon who’s a business manager, and John who’s a retired nuclear engineer.  

Many of them hold full-time or part-time jobs, some are retired, lots have never volunteered before and many have no horse experience. 

But we welcome them all and couldn’t get through a single day without their help.  They are our most important asset.  They perform public relations just by talking about what they do here and why.  They bring specialized skills ranging from construction to medicine to how to properly stack hay bales in the loft.  They keep us honest by providing constructive criticism and and feedback on what works and what doesn’t.  And they allow us to grow in ways we never imagined. 

So it is with both joy and sadness that we say goodbye (for now) to one of our cherished volunteers who is leaving this month to take a teaching position in Abu Dhabi.  

Beth came to us a an out-of-work teacher who was making do with substitute teaching positions.  She had recently returned to Seattle after a long time away, and we were only too happy to help her settle in.  It didn’t take long to find Beth’s incredible skill at organizing and managing -- things, people, ideas.  It’s no wonder she’s a teacher, and no surprise that she’s landed a really cool job in a foreign land.  

Beth will be missed, and we’ll looking forward to seeing her photos and reading her blog about life’s new adventures. 

Thanks so much for being part of our lives!

Bon voyage, Beth, from all your animal and human friends at Hope For Horses