Featured Volunteers

Joe and Brad H. have been long-time friends of both the Swimmer Family and the Mitey Riders. Brad was the very first vol­un­teer when the pro­gram began 16 years ago. Today, she still vol­un­teers her time work­ing with the rid­ers, and spoil­ing our horses with car­rots and a pat on the nose. Joe main­tains a local side-business of respect­fully lay­ing horses to rest after they have passed on — a ser­vice he does not charge for — but only requests that the horse own­ers make a dona­tion directly to Mitey Riders. Their daugh­ters Cathy and Jamie donate their time at our Spring Festival every year. Thank you — H. Family — for over 40 years of friend­ship and sup­port — your impact on our lives is priceless!

Kate and Pat L., who put together, print, and dis­trib­ute our monthly newslet­ters were the right choice to honor as fea­tured vol­un­teers. Kate is a Mitey Rider alumni. She rode for 7 years and is now in col­lege at SPCC. While Kate was rid­ing, Pat, her mother, con­tin­ued on the task of cre­at­ing the monthly newslet­ter. After Kate stopped rid­ing, they both decided to con­tinue doing the newslet­ter together. Kate and Pat, thanks for all that you both do!

Laurie S. is the March vol­un­teer of the month. This is her sec­ond year vol­un­teer­ing with Mitey Riders on Saturdays. Laurie started as a side­walker and this year also became the Saturday morn­ing vol­un­teer coor­di­na­tor. Laurie has a spe­cial bond with her rid­ers Owen and Megan. “I really enjoy my morn­ings that I get to share with these inspir­ing chil­dren. Every week I look for­ward to the time I spend with them”, says Laurie.

**February is Volunteer Appreciation Month!**
Kelly M. started vol­un­teer­ing with us 6 years ago. Kelly grew up rid­ing horses and has been a real asset on Saturdays at the 11, 12, and 1 o’clock classes. “I have a spe­cial bond with Rebecca C., we’ve been together for 6 years. She was the first rider that I worked with and it has been great see­ing her grow up and develop her rid­ing abil­i­ties.” Kelly always brings a great atti­tude and a love for the horses and the kids. *Kelly shown here with Monique, our Saturday Tack Coordinator.

**February is Volunteer Appreciation Month!**
Diana M. has been vol­un­teer­ing at Mitey Riders for about 3 years. She started out as a vol­un­teer feeder, and you will still see her out at Misty Meadows on Sundays. She has also lead on Thursdays and this year moved to barn help on Saturdays. Diana says “The pro­gram is very recep­tive to stu­dents and vol­un­teers. I love how every­one is treated from stu­dent, to vol­un­teer, to horses.” We would like to thank Diana for ALL she does for our horses and riders!

This month rec­og­nizes the Mitey Rider Council — a group of ded­i­cated par­ents and vol­un­teers who want to be more involved in the devel­op­ment and man­age­ment of the pro­gram. It is because of this hard­work­ing group that we have Volunteer Appreciation Week, eye-catching mer­chan­dise, monthly newslet­ters, com­mu­ni­ca­tion with par­ents and vol­un­teers, hos­pi­tal­ity, and the Spring Festival. Represented in this group are fam­i­lies new to the pro­gram as well as fam­i­lies and vol­un­teers that have been with the Mitey Riders for 13+ years! The Mitey Council meets every sec­ond Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. Click HERE to learn more about the Council and become a part of it!

This hus­band and wife team vol­un­teer their time together on Thursdays at 3.30 and 4.30. Even though they are new­com­ers to our pro­gram, Drew and Kristin have already become great assets to the Mitey Riders pro­gram. Drew grew up rid­ing horses, and is a leader and barn helper. Kristin is a teacher, and vol­un­teers as a side­walker. Drew com­ments, “Thursdays are my favorite day of the week because I get to recon­nect with horses, hang out with some great kids, and work with a fan­tas­tic staff.” Kristin’s favorite part about vol­un­teer­ing is “hav­ing such a beau­ti­ful place to come, where Drew and I can vol­un­teer together.”

October’s vol­un­tee of the month is Wesley R. This is his 7^th year vol­un­teer­ing with Mitey Riders and he has been a leader and a side­walker. He vol­un­teers his time on Wednesday at 4:30 and 5:30. The best part about vol­un­teer­ing, Wes says, is the kids. He espe­cially enjoys watch­ing the kids grow up and see­ing their abil­i­ties change for the bet­ter. Wes has also gen­er­ously donated his time to help with the fin­ish­ing of the new addi­tion to the upper barn. We would all like to thank Wes for all the does for Mitey Riders!

This month’s vol­un­teers are Sam and Wink B. This is Wink’s 10^th year vol­un­teer­ing with Mitey Riders and Sam’s 9^th. Sam is a side­walker on Saturdays. Wink has been a leader, side­walker, and barn help and was the Saturday VC for 5 years. Currently, Wink vol­un­teers her time on Fridays and Saturdays. Wink says that the most reward­ing part of work­ing with the Mitey Riders is when the rid­ers reach a per­sonal mile­stone, and she has cer­tainly wit­nessed some extra­or­di­nary ones while being out here. Sam’s most reward­ing part of vol­un­teer­ing is not only the strong med­i­cine or the body, mind, and spirit, but the spe­cial friend­ships of the rid­ers, their fam­i­lies, the Mitey Rider staff, and the volunteers.