Posts

Volunteer of the Quarter – Rosina Newton

/in /by

By Dan Monn, Animal Care, Gift Shop and Volunteer Assistant
Wolf Haven International

Rosina Newton started volunteering at Wolf Haven International almost four years ago, and she has been enriching guests’ experiences ever since. If you aren’t sure if you’ve been on one of her sanctuary visits, you may remember her trademark wolf ears and tail and bright personality. Rosina is a guide on both sanctuary and prairie visits, and also helps with our school groups. When Rosina is guiding our public visits, she goes above and beyond. She will take a group of guests into the wolf sanctuary for the 50-minute visit, and then lead any interested parties out to the prairie, returning just in time to take the next group into the sanctuary. Her dedication and passion shine through every visit she leads.

Originally from Seattle, Rosina’s first introduction to Wolf Haven happened when she saw a presentation at the Edmonds Library as a child. Years later, her love of animals brought her to Yelm to be closer to her horses and lucky for us it brought her closer to Wolf Haven. Remembering that first introduction she scheduled a visit soon. On a hot afternoon Rosina was the only guest, and though she didn’t see any wolves, she said the guide did such a great job she was convinced to volunteer herself.

Now Rosina is the guide sticking it out in rough weather. In fact, one of her favorite visits was one that was nearly canceled. On Halloween a couple years ago, the last visit occurred during a nasty hail storm; still, a handful of hearty souls showed up. Rosina was more than happy to take the group in, and they were rewarded with a show. All the wolves were out, and some were even playfully jumping trying to catch the hail. Good weather, or bad, Rosina always gives our guests a rewarding experience.

Volunteer of the Quarter – Tashina Kimble

/in /by
Wolf Haven Volunteer of the Quarter - Tashina Kimble

Wolf Haven Volunteer of the Quarter – Tashina Kimble

By Dan Monn, Animal Care, Gift Shop and Volunteer Assistant

Wolf Haven International

Tashina is one of our homegrown volunteers; she was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon and raised not far from here, in Yelm, Washington.  She has been a volunteer at Wolf Haven International for six years, but interested in wildlife conservation for much longer.  Tashina is a recent graduate of Evergreen, and now has her eyes set on an advanced degree as she continues toward her goal of working in wildlife outreach and education.

Tashina began volunteering at Wolf Haven as a senior in high school.  She wanted her senior project to be related to wildlife and she found us!  She worked with Erik from our animal care team to come up with a project, and has been contributing as a volunteer ever since.   Now Tashina guides visits, and does a lot of outreach work for Wolf Haven. She spent time here as an intern while studying at The Evergreen State College, and the work Tashina did then has helped shape the way we convey Wolf Haven’s values and mission to the public.

In fact, Tashina’s favorite part of volunteering is spending time with the public and sharing her passion for the individual animals and wildlife conservation.  One of her favorite moments was getting to see Lorenzo, (now deceased) a Mexican gray wolf, get an elk leg.  Animal care staff does not usually feed the wolves during public visits, plus elk legs are a rare treat.  Another favorite moment occurred during a group howl as she was leading visitors through the sanctuary.  To be present during a howl is a special moment for anyone, but it was especially so for a guest who was moved to tears.  Sharing that moment is something Tashina says she’ll remember for a long time.