Although Kim is moving away, we wanted to highlight the amazing volunteer work she’s done with us, because when it comes to volunteer roles at the Sanctuary One Care Farm, Kim Stanick is a true jack of all trades.
She’s mucked out stalls, worked in the dog and cat cottages, helped with tours and callbacks to prospective animal adopters, and tabling at events such as the Applegate Farmer’s Market.
“I have a lot of respect for all the people that work there,” says Stanick, who volunteers for a couple of hours each week on Friday. “It’s just a really nice group of folks.”
After first getting settled in her new home in the Little Applegate Valley in 2019, Stanick found out about the 55-acre facility, which has endeavored to rehabilitate farm animals and serve as a boon to humans’ mental and physical health since opening in 2007.
“I thought, ‘That sounds like a very neat place; I want to go visit there,” Stanick says.
She attended a tour, and inquired about volunteering afterward. The rest is history, with Stanick taking on multiple roles. She started with mucking out the stalls in the barn area. It was taxing, get-your-hands-dirty kind of work, especially during the winter.
“It’s a lot of heavy lifting, and it’s a lot of dust, but it really gives you a feel for farming and what animal husbandry is like,” Stanick says. “You learn a lot of skills.”
Recently, she’s transitioned to primarily helping at the cat and dog cottages, where the cleaning continues, just on a smaller scale. She’s also there to give attention to the animals, which she loves.
There have been some particularly memorable critters Stanick has gotten to know. There was Cowboy, a dog who was at the care farm for an extended amount of time but recently found a forever home. Same with Spencer, a gentle and intelligent cat who never bothered anyone.
If all that wasn’t enough, Stanick has also helped with Sanctuary One’s Spring Into Auction and geocaching events.
The experiences Stanick have been part of have nurtured her, too. The care farm serves as a sort of therapy, perfectly in line with its mantra that says people, animals, and the earth are better together.
“It takes you away from other things that you might be thinking about or avoiding,” she says. “You just have to stay in the moment. It’s a good escape.”
