Valley Volunteers 2019

Volunteers Valley

A supplement to the

FAIRY

April 10, 2019

makes the poop go poof

Dog owner Jane Frisch cleans up the mess other pet owners leave behind. Page 12.

2 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

YOU’RE THE BEST!

ROCK!

thnx

so much

thanks

THANKS

Thank you we appreciate you thanks YOU YOU’RE A STAR!

thank you

Teton County 4-H Volunteers are inspiring the next generation!

Thank you for all you do for our community!

We would like to thank our outstanding volunteer leaders: Erin Abel Chance Abel Anjie Beard Kayla Bonilla Dave Brackett Diana Brown Jay Buchner Cola Budge Jane Budge Joey Budge Joe Burke Rani Carr Stefanie Eggett Melissa Fox

Trudy Funk Rebecca Genzer Keith Gingery Becca Griber Gwen Hansen Shannon Hasenack LaRee Hibbert Barb Huhn Jared Kuhns Carlton Loewer Adria Stines SaraLee Lanier Debbie Lutz Rebecca Mitchell Diedre Morris

Molly Moyer Shannon Owens Theresa Paradis Pam Romsa Susan Rowe Nancy Seaton Travis Shanafelt Thomas Smits Alyssa Watkins Amy Wilson Andrew Wilson Brandi Wilson Buskin Wilson Dana Wilson Meredith Wilson

From the Editor

I

had no idea who Old Bill was when I arrived in Jackson in September 2015. But if you’re in Jackson in the fall you learn fast.

I heard a lot about Old Bill my first few weeks in town — if I donated to him, if I was going to his fun run. But I didn’t really get what Old Bill was about until I wandered down to Town Square on race day.

People were everywhere. As were dogs. And booths, so many booths. It was a little overwhelming and a lot inspiring. Of course the money racked up was impressive, but more often than I heard about where money was being given I heard about how time was being given.

Though Old Bill’s Fun Run for Charities is a fall tradition I learned that volunteerism is a year-round one. Lending a hand is as much of a Jackson value as philanthropy.

There are so many ways that Jackson Hole gives back, both to its own residents and those across the globe. Our residents rouse themselves from bed in the middle of the night to help a neighbor navigate a medical emergency. They miss meals with their families to attend nonprofit board meetings. They sort and deliver pounds of rescued food, fight for immigrant rights, pour a cup of tea for a stranger laid up in the hospital. They travel abroad to make the world a better place and come back feeling even more grateful for what they left behind.

Volunteering allows us to find our communities within our community, to fuel our passions and our souls, to give back to the beautiful place we’ve made our home. Whether building a Habitat home on a snowy Saturday or dressing up as a the “Poop Fairy” to chip frozen dog turds from the Snake River dike, we all have a calling.

This section celebrates that spirit of service. I don’t know Old Bill, but I think that’s what he’s all about.

Melissa Cassutt, Valley Volunteers editor

Special supplement written, produced and printed by the Jackson Hole News&Guide

Interested in becoming a volunteer?

Contact the Teton County 4-H Office at 733-3087 360882

Publisher: Kevin Olson Associate Publisher: Adam Meyer Editor: Johanna Love Managing Editor: Rebecca Huntington Deputy Editor: Melissa Cassutt Layout and Design: Andy Edwards, Samantha Nock Photographers: Bradly J. Boner, Ryan Dorgan, Rebecca Noble Copy Editors: Jennifer Dorsey, Mark Huffman, Tom Hallberg Features: Melissa Cassutt, Jennifer Dorsey, Allie Gross, Tom Hallberg, Mike Koshmrl, Julie Kukral, Kylie Mohr, Emily Mieure, Cody Cottier

Thank you to Jackson’s Board of Examiners / Board of Appeals

Advertising Sales: Karen Brennan, Tom Hall, Chad Repinski, Megan LaTorre, Oliver O’Connor Advertising Coordinator: Maggie Gabruk Creative Director: Sarah Wilson Advertising Design: Lydia Redzich, Taylor-Ann Smith, Luis Ortiz

Greg Buchko Casey Rammell • Damon Wilson Michael Mielke • James Ross Jade Beus (missing from picture)

This volunteer board assists with the Town of Jackson’s contractor licensing program as well as hearing and deciding appeals of orders, decisions, or determinations made by the Building Official.

Pressroom Manager: Chuck Pate Pre-press: Jeff Young Press Supervisor: Dale Fjeldsted Post Press Supervisor: Charles R. Pate Pressmen: Steve Livingston, Charles R. Pate, Lewis Haddock Office Manager: Kathleen Godines Customer Service Managers: Lucia Perez, Rudy Perez Circulation Manager: Kyra Griffin Circulation: Jeff Young, Jayann Carlisle ©2019 Teton Media Works Jackson Hole News&Guide P.O. Box 7445, 1225 Maple Way Jackson, WY 83002 Phone: 307-733-2047; Fax: 307-733-2138, Web: JHNewsAndGuide.com

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 3

REBECCA NOBLE / NEWS&GUIDE Photos

Volunteer John Harkness measures dimensions for closet shelves at the construction site of The Grove, the latest affordable housing project for Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area.

Harkness took first place in the Winter Warriors Challenge last year and spends every Saturday working at the housing project.

Winter Warrior contest: bone-chilling but heart-warming

Volunteers brave elements to build affordable homes on schedule.‌

By Cody Cottier

B

illows of breath clouded the air before the bundled volunteers as they huddled to prep for a cold day’s labor.

They stood outside an unfinished apartment building at The Grove, six or so gloved and stocking-capped workers, walled in by plastic sheets hung to ward off the biting, 10-degree chill.

Katrina Belle, a construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area, was overseeing the temporary help for the day.

“Does anyone want to work outside?” she asked.

Nervous smiles spread around the silent circle, so quiet you could almost hear the heaters running indoors.

“All right,” Belle said, “there’s inside work, too.”

The volunteers that early March morning were of two kinds: Some were future homeowners who will live in these units after giving at least 500 hours to construction. The rest were Winter Warriors — hardy, hopefully warm-blooded souls who endure the wintry elements so that others may sleep under an affordable roof.

Representing the latter group was John Harkness, 77, his dusty work pants held up by rainbow suspenders and his unruly white beard beaded with dew and glinting in the sun. A longtime Habitat volunteer, he shows up each Saturday, as another supervisor put it, “religiously.”

“I need a day off from skiing,” Harkness said.

In fact, the only time you won’t find him at the project site is the day of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s 100 Club breakfast.

Harkness is a frontrunner in the Winter Warriors competition, Habitat’s solution to a seasonal dearth of volunteers. Each hour of work earns a point, and those points mean prizes for whoever has the most when spring arrives.

Without help in January through March, Habitat Outreach Coordinator Elizabeth Ferguson said, the nonprofit sometimes struggles to meet

Volunteer John Harkness notes dimensions for closet shelves. As a cabinetry hobbyist he is well-qualified for the precision of interior finishing.

spring deadlines. This year and last, rescue came in the form of the Winter Warriors.

“That’s what our volunteers are,” Ferguson said. “It takes a lot to leave your house and say you’re going to spend the day outside.”

And yet, many do. Between January and February, she said, volunteers racked up a whopping 1,200 hours. That includes large groups from community organizations like St. John’s Episcopal Church.

But then there are the solo diehards, like Harkness. That morning he wore on his hard hat the sticker from the trip he won last year to Montana’s Big Sky Resort.

When the group dispersed, some braved the frigid task of putting up siding. The rest took shelter in the tolerable temperatures of the apartment.

Harkness was one of the lucky ones, but for good reason. As a cabinetry hobbyist he is wellqualified for the precision of interior finishing, though at his first Habitat project, he said, “the manager actually thought it was a detriment.”

He was too meticulous.

Perfectionism aside, Harkness’ love of construction and of helping people made him a perfect fit. He’s become a de facto foreman, so he took See Warrior on 23

4 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Thank you Jackson Hole Fire/EMS

VOLUNTEERS who do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.

These names represent the men and women who give up time with family and friends to volunteer for our community: STATION 1

STATION 3 HOBACK

MOOSE WILSON ROAD

James Tucker Greg Chooljian Nate Levinson Daniel Long Jason Bruni Teresa deGroh Nick Furlong Alton George Matt Goewert Caleb Hunger Michael Kirby Carl Pelletier Brenner Perryman Nicolas Prevot Connor Quinn Jairus Robinson Leo Sanchez Kevin Spence Sam Zuckerman

Todd Fitzgerald Mike Trumbower Chris Betsinger Bernhard Sieber Chance Abel Andrew Byron David Cernicek Randy Luskey Janet Palermo Lisa Potzernitz Eric Schneider

Remy Levy Nathan Mintz Brenda Sherwin Kelly Stirn Hunter Verde David Waldman

TOWN OF JACKSON

STATION 2 WILSON

Katie Davis Conner Field Tim Harland Dean Jarvie Heath Kuszak Cody McInnes Chris Mommsen,

Station 4 Moran Mack McFarland Phillip Lamoureux Camden Preuss Joshua Bennett Matthew Graden Brian McDaniel Jon Moul Giovanni Tabacchi Clinton Vaughan James Warren Dylan Erickson

STATION 6

STATION 7

ADAMS CANYON Rob Dearing Clay Geittmann James Little Ray Brence Logan Eyer Brad Larson Niel McCune Kevin Rauch-Lynch Matthew Somers Maggie Stewart Mike Sullivan

Personal Sacrifice for the Good of the Whole

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 5

Nonprofits aim to boost ‘food security’ In the richest county in the United States, some people have trouble feeding their families.

Lend a hand: Jackson Cupboard

By Allie Gross

T

his winter, three times a week, Shirley Craighead clicked into her cross-country setup, skied to her car and drove the 15 miles into town for her volunteer shifts.

At the Jackson Cupboard food pantry, Craighead’s task is to check what’s needed and grocery shop at Albertsons, Smith’s and the Dollar Store to fill the gaps, using the Cupboard’s donations.

“I go and check what they need, and then go and buy it,” she said. “I feel so much has been given to me in life, that it is one way to give back.”

Despite the wealth and abundance of Jackson Hole, food insecurity is a persistent challenge in the most unequal county in the country.

A network of nonprofits, however, is working to combat it. Resources like the Good Samaritan Mission offer meals and food boxes, and several churches serve meals.

Organizations like Jackson Cupboard and Hole Food Rescue offer food to those in need and provide food for other groups throughout town, such as kids’ after-school snacks at Teton County Library or the school district’s pantry at Munger Mountain Elementary School.

The Teton County Community Health Needs Assessment defines food insecurity as “not having access to a reliable source of food.”

Jackson Cupboard Director Rachel Daluge defines it as living paycheck to paycheck and relying on boxed or freezer food rather than healthy alternatives.

“There’s just so many other things in this community that’s hard for people to have to pay for, and food shouldn’t be a problem,” Daluge said. “That’s why I’m glad we’re here for that.”

The county’s health needs assessment found the rate of food insecurity in 2015 was 13.5 percent, a number that declined to 10 percent in 2018. But national statistics show 25 percent of children in Teton County are eligible for free or

RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE

Olivia Roux, Brian Flint, Dan Leaman and Amy Yatsuk sort food from Jackson Whole Grocer.

reduced-price school lunches — up about 15 percent from 2015.

Other pressures of living in Jackson often contribute to food insecurity, such as high costs of housing or child care.

“Food insecurity in Jackson, from what I understand, it’s not necessarily hunger, it’s not starvation,” Hole Food Rescue Director Ali Milburn said. “It’s ‘we’re eating two PB&Js per day.’

There’s minimal variety, there’s minimal nutri— Ali Milburn tional content, Hole Food Rescue and it is cost-burdensome for people to afford food.

“Maybe they’re buying food, and they’re unable to make their electrical payment, unable to make their car payment, unable to put gas in the car,” she said.

“It’s so tangible. In the moment, you’re seeing all this food that would’ve gone to waste, and your hour is helping get it to someone who needs it.”

Food routed to the hungry Hole Food Rescue has a twofold mission: reducing food waste by saving perishable foods from grocery stores and local restaurants and routing those goods to those who need it.

As the nonprofit uncovers more demand, it has worked to route food to other organizations. For example, the cupboard and Hole Food Rescue began hosting tables at the Senior Center of Jackson Hole and Pioneer Homestead for elderly people. Hole Food Rescue has also set up a table for food pickups at the Teton Literacy Center.

“The more opportunities that

JULY 19-28, 2019

someone has to interact with an opportunity for food assistance, the more likely they are to take it,” Milburn said.

“There’s a lot of shame that goes into receiving assistance from a food bank,” Milburn said. “Because of [Hole Food Rescue’s] roots and our history of dumpster diving and environmental justice, we’ve been able to really turn food assistance into this new light of, ‘You’re part of the solution, and there’s no reason to be ashamed of taking some of this food.’”

Jackson Cupboard seeks to alleviate that stigma by hosting Free Food Fridays, a 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. open house inviting the public to reduce food waste by collecting perishable foods that went unused by the bank’s clients.

Rewarding returns The Jackson Cupboard is open from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays and from 10 to noon on Wednesdays. Anyone can visit three times, but further visits require a referral from a human service agen-

The Jackson Cupboard has several volunteer opportunities, including: • Assisting clients between 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Mondays and Thursdays or between 10 a.m. and noon on Wednesdays. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old to serve in this capacity.

• Restocking and organize products from 10 am. to noon on Mondays and Thursdays.

• Break down Free Food Friday, starting at 3 p.m on Fridays.

• Clean and stock on the fourth Tuesday.

• Pick up groceries at 9 a.m.

Thursdays from Albertsons and deliver to the Cupboard.

To volunteer or host a food drive contact Jackson Cupboard Director Rachel Daluge at 699-2163 or jacksoncupboard@gmail.com. cy, such as One22 or the Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center.

Daluge says her main job is “wrangling” about 140 volunteer slots at the food pantry each month.

“I would not be able to do this without them,” Daluge said.

Hole Food Rescue also relies on volunteers to deliver food to those who need it.

“It’s so tangible. In the moment, you’re seeing all this food that would’ve gone to waste, and your hour is helping get it to someone who needs it,” Milburn said. “Our volunteers love it because they’re immediately seeing the impact of their time.”

Contact Allie Gross at 732-7063 or county@jhnewsandguide.com.

Lend a hand: Hole Food Rescue The first step for becoming a Hole Food Rescue volunteer is completing an application at HoleFoodRescue.org/volunteer, and attending a new volunteer orientation.

Opportunities for volunteer work include: Food Rescuer: Performs food rescues and food sorting Hub Patrol: Prepares outgoing food boxes and supports Food Rescuers with incoming food Food Runner: Delivers food boxes to Hole Food Rescue’s partner organizations Cleaning Chief: Cleans and provides facility maintenance at the Hole Food Rescue Hub Volunteers can commit to a weekly shift or serve on an as-needed basis.

Join Jackson’s #1 Women’s Service Organization Soroptimist International

“Best for Women” Would like to thank all of our members, past and present,

for 50 years of serving the Jackson Hole Community!

Volunteer opportunities are available with the Fair Office, Horse Show, Exhibit Hall and all night events.

If you are interested in volunteering at Fair this year, please contact the Fair Office at 733-5289.

SAVE THE DATE Bras For A Cause, Saturday May 11th Million Dollar Cowboy Bar Call Karen Brennan for more information 307-413-6772

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6 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

SUPER VOLUNTEER

Employing her voice to create a bridge Vida Sanchez dedicates herself to helping Spanish speakers access medical care.

By Melissa Cassutt

T

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Vida Sanchez has worked for decades to increase access to medical care for the Latino community in Jackson Hole. She is now with the nonprofit “La Voz,” meaning “the voice.”

he shifts were 24 hours on, 24 hours off.

The midwifery students were responsible for a bit of everything — deliveries, prenatal care, postnatal consultations. They spoke primarily in Spanish, mirroring the patients who visited the border-town clinic.

“We handled everything that walked in the door all day long,” Vida Sanchez said. “We worked our butts off.”

She learned Spanish before her start in the clinic, studying in Guanajuanto, Mexico, for two moths. The program jump-started her understanding of the language, which she now uses so frequently she errantly slips into Spanish while leaving voicemails.

Despite her Spanish first name — which means “life” and came from her “hippie” parents — and her Spanish last name — which came from marriage — Sanchez didn’t speak a lick of the language before her midwifery work.

Her ability to speak Spanish, and her experience in El Paso, Texas, have largely driven Sanchez’s career in “medical anthropology,” or “basically how your social circumstances and the culture you live in at that particular moment in history impacts your health and your health outcomes.”

Though for Sanchez, her work is always a blurred line between passion projects and jobs that technically bring home a paycheck but require a lot of volunteer hours.

She’s mostly known for her work starting and running El Puente — “the bridge” in Spanish — a nonprofit that

provided translation services to Spanish-speaking immigrants. The organization put a name to the work she started doing as a volunteer in the early 2000s, shortly after she moved (back) to Jackson following her midwifery training.

As Sanchez remembers it, “in about three years the [Latino] population increased about 350 percent.”

“We saw a very different change in the ethnic demographics of our community,” she said.

The change created a need for interpreters, especially in prenatal appointments and delivery rooms.

“We basically did not have any system in place for providing interpretation services at the time,” she said. “I was struck by how challenging it was, especially for new moms, to be able to communicate with their doctors.”

Mayra Vazquez was such a pregnant mother. She came to El Puente knowing something was wrong but unsure of what to make of her symptoms. She thought it might be the flu.

Sanchez quickly connected her to her doctor, who admitted her at St. John’s Medical Center. She was in labor, but only 26 weeks into her pregnancy.

The baby girl weighed less than 2 pounds when she was delivered.

Mom and daughter were quickly flown to Salt Lake City, where they spent several months in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Keily Garcia is now a healthy 12-year-old.

“If [Mayra Vazquez] didn’t have somewhere to call, if she was trying to figure out how to get to her doctor’s office, or if she needed to go to the ER — that kind of hesitation would have added even more time,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez and a small team logged hours in patient rooms, standing alongside women as they delivered in birthing or surgical suites and helpSee Voice on 7

2019 Super Volunteer nominees

Though there can be only one Super Volunteer, the News&Guide always receives a great batch of candidates. Below are the names of the 2019 nominees, the person who made the nomination or the organization that benefitted from their volunteer work.

Al Zuckerman Hole Food Rescue, Jackson Cupboard, Community Emergency Response Team Laura Davenport JacksonHoleLive and Center for the Arts Claudia VanRemoortere Teton Literacy Center Anne Hare Teton Raptor Center Sherry Kinsella Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church Hadyn Peery St. John’s Medical Center

Cynthia Hogan St. John’s Medical Center Board of Trustees, Hole Food Rescue Battalion Chief Jim Tucker Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Carlos and Eric Neighbors to Shelley Rubrecht Jay Buchner, Joe Burke and Dave Brackett Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited Sava Malachowski Neighbor to Barb Conitz

Mary Kathryn Clark Grand Teton National Park Mary Beth and Kent Riemondy Grand Teton National Park

Charlotte Souter Postpartum Support International Jane and Steve Malashock National Museum of Wildlife Art

Brenda Sherwin Teton County Victim Services

Gregg Ward Good Samaritan Mission Patty Lummis Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area Lynn Apel St. John’s Living Center St. John’s Auxiliary volunteers St. John’s Living Center

Teton County residents Teton County Recycling

Volunteers are the key to literacy at TLC. We are grateful for your time and dedication.

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Stephan Abrams William Allen Noah Barnhart Mila Berry Martha Best William Best Erica Bowditch Nick Boyer Eliza Bradford Thomas Brewer William Broeder Anna Brown Quentin Bruno Joseph Burke Katherine Bush Carter Callaway

Lisa Carpenter Ann Carruth Andy Carson Nancy Carson Lori Clark-Erikson Laura Coe Nancy Collister Kiersten Davis Alex Dawson Lezly Diaz Morillon Megan Dufault Mila Dunbar-Irwin Lilly Duqutette Joannie Epstein Madison Ewing Jane Fairbairn Tashi Ferris

Scott Fossel Peter French Nancy Gardiner River Gayton Kendyl Gersten Gerson Giron Nova Amy Glenn Kevin Grange Julie Greene Kris Gridley Hannah Haag Paul Hansen Rachel Harrower Kade Hatten Sue Hebberger Jeff Heilbrun Marena Herr Vivian Herr Berte Hirschfield Holly Hunter Ragan Jolly

Robin Keeler Sarah Kerr Caitlin Keys Jack Krouskup Jane Kusek Gina Kyle Alex Lange Brendan Levine Warren Levy Martha Lewis Kate Lucas Sawyer Lucas-Griffin Amy Madera Hannah Maldanado Bill Maloney Carol Maloney America Martinez James Mathieu Kiva McConaughy-Munn Mark McKew Kristin McMillian

THANK YOU! William McPeak Sara McWhirter Finley Miller Seana Minuth Abby Moore Kendall Nelson Joanna Newman Tom Offut Nick Olmstead Shelley Olson Camilla “Millie” Peck Cassandra Penning Cindy Perry Ben Phocas Sophie Porter Natasha Poutiatine Melissa Reichert

Lisa Ridgeway Peter Rosenberg Leila Sandlin Edye Sauter Maggie Scarlett Debbie Schlinger Sarah Shea Samantha Smith Gabrielle St. Clair Amy Staehr Anne Stalker Perri Stern Rachael Stewart Lynn Straker Cassandra Taylor Sienna Taylor Kerri Thomas

Jim Thorburn Patrick Trucco Juliet Unfried Claudia VanRemoortere Rick Walls Jeff Ward Cristine Watson Rhonda Watson Madeline Webb Lynn Wegner Cristine Wehner Kate Wienman

For volunteer opportunities, please contact carisa@tetonliteracy.org or call 307-733-9242

Robert Wemple Dabney West Sara White Mike Wierda John Williams Diane Winder Nathan Wunner Bob Zelino

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 7

Voice

She has seen how little things — a pregnant woman who “can’t figure Continued from 6 out how to find her pediatrician,” for ing families navigate the medical sys- example — can became big obstacles. tem to get needed care. Following sev- And when potential emergencies eral years of volunteer work and an arise, a language barrier increases ambitious grassroots study compiling the pressure. data from 275 interviews — which, “of Two interpreters took on-call shifts course, pointed to a need for low-cost every night, ready to jump out of bed or affordable services and a communi- and head to the hospital at all hours tywide system” — El Puente launched of the night. with Sanchez at the helm.

“People were driving through blizWhen the door finally opened “we zards to get to a delivery,” Sanchez said. were swamped.

“The people who came forward to work “At that time there were even few- at El Puente were some of the most er bilingual folks amazing people I employed in the ever met.” different doctors El Puente, offices, fewer bithe Community lingual nurses,” Resource Censhe said. “We ter and Latino basically proResource Center vided thousands merged into a and thousands of new entity, One hours of service 22, in the sumevery year.” mer of 2016. She Once El Pumoved on six ente was off months after the the ground, her consolidation, but volunteer time her passion reflipped to paid, mains the same. though even as She’s also back — Vida Sanchez executive directo where she NEWS&GUIDE’S 2019 SUPER VOLUNTEER tor she worked started before El far past a 40Puente, volunhour workweek and far outside the teering her time as a medical interconfines of a 9-to-5 job. preter, this time for the new nonprofit “She’s been helping to assure ac- La Voz, meaning “the voice.” The orcess to health care for the Latino com- ganization looks similar to the nonmunity in Teton County for more than profit she started before: a passionate fifteen years — first by acting as a vol- and tight-knit group — some paid, unteer interpreter, then by forming El some not — putting in long days (and Puente and running it for more than nights) to help the Spanish-speaking a decade,” wrote Candra Day, San- population gain access to medical chez’s mom, in her nomination for the care.

News&Guide’s Super Volunteer.

“I really believe the essential com“Her volunteer work has made a ponent of health and well-being is at huge difference in health care for La- least having some aspect of your comtinos in our community, helped many munity where you feel safe and sepeople lead healthier lives and care for cure,” she said, “and at home.” healthier children, and she has given countless hours of her time to assist Contact Melissa Cassutt at 732-7076 individuals with complex cases.” or valley@jhnewsandguide.com.​

ONE OF THE

GREATEST GIFTS YOU CAN GIVE IS YOUR TIME.

VOLUNTEER AT THE SENIOR CENTER. The Senior Center relies on volunteers to assist with administrative and maintenance tasks, special events, Meals on Wheels delivery and other programs.

“I really believe the essential component of health and well-being is at least having some aspect of your community where you feel safe and secure.”

Contact Hannah for more information on how you can get involved.

733-7300 or info@seniorcenterjh.org

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Thank you to all of our

Powder Pals!

Adriene Henderson

James McCluskey

Alex Kurth

Joey Sackett

Alyson Spery

Jorge Olivares

Briana Olivares

Kat Bush

Caroline Drayton

Katina Macfarlane

Cassidy Kreel

Kellie Walsh

Charlotte Percle

Kelsey Colbert

Chiara Wallace

Lars Schou

Elana Selinger

Marc Titre

Mariel DeLacy

Perrine Monnet

Skye Schell

Sofia Jaramillo

Max Ritter

Sophia Schwartz

Volunteer Program Program 2015 Volunteer 2015 2015 Volunteer Program

Megan Avery

Stephen Shelesky

Molly Belk

Stuart Macfarlane

Morgan Graham

Will Stabler

Nick Braun

Zach Montes

www.dougcoombsfoundation.org

121 121 121 volunteers volunteers volunteers

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st.

St.John’s John’sMedical MedicalCenter Centerthanks thanksour ourdedicated dedicatedvolunteers! volunteers!

2015 Volunteer Program

We are also grateful to all those who generously give their time by serving on the boards and committees of the St. John’s Medical Center Board of Trustees and the St. John’s Hospital Foundation Board of We are also grateful to all those who generously Directors.

give their time by serving on the St. John’s AUXILIARY Medical Center Board of Trustees and Lewisthe St. Nancy Adams FoundationCarolyn John’s Hospital Board of Directors.

Mary Lohuis Amrita Banerjee Donna Beaupré auxiLiary Lonnie Brown Nancy Adams Doris Audyova-Keatley Budge Sandra Barbara Butterfield Amrita Banerjee SueBasye Bybee Judy Donna Laurie BayClark Kelly Clark Donna Beaupré Rob Clark Jaclyn Braddy Donna Coles Doris Budge Karen Butterfield Connelly Barbara Linda Criswell Sue Bybee Sue Critzer Donna Clark LisaCooper Delaney Emily Susan Dong Marcia Craighead Susan Freeze Linda Criswell Valerie Goettler Sue Critzer Connie Hansen Lisa Delaney Diane Hanson Addie Donnan Stephanie Petria Fossel Harper Kimberly Hetrick Valerie Goettler Margaret Hochheiser Sarah Graham Shay James Elizabeth Hale DianaHansen Joy Connie Becky Kimmel Diane Hanson Kathy Kjellgren Stephanie Harper Patty Krause Kimberly Hetrick Mary Ann Lawroski Margaret Hochheiser

122 121

volunteers

January-December 2018 4/1/16 – 3/31/17

3,200 19,300 3,200 19,300 3,200 19,300 3,815 19,517 hours served patients served hours served patients served hours served

patients served contacts

3,200 19,300 hours served patients served Marlise Combe Patty Pappas-Staley Ben Nardi Marge Glick Living Center Russian MEALS WITHHours served SPIRITUAL LIVING ZoeWHEELIN’ Curran AND KristiAmy Nielson Sue Perkins CARE Patty Hartnett JanetCENTER Anderson in: Hours served in: Hours served in: Hours served in: HEALIN’ Lucy Bayles Joseph Sabastian A MISSION Janet Anderson Mallory Harrower Stuart Palmer Debbie Phillips Denise Joy Lynn Apel • Oncology • Spiritual Care • Oncology • Spiritual Care • Rein Oncology • Pascal Spiritual Care • Front Desk • Living Center • Louisa Oncology Spiritual Care &• VOLUNTEENS Sandvig Liz Lockhhart Nate Bennett Lynn Apel Denise Joy Pastor Ben Ellen Jane Kusek Tisch Brown • Pet Partners • Education & Special Events • Front Desk • LivingEd Center Marlise Combe Schmitt Mari Auman Dee Adrian Bernal Kelsea Love Sue • Cart & Newspaper Service • Hospice • Sanford Front Desk • Desk Living Center Ellen DaveLuton Mills • Perkins Front Michael Burke • Living Center • Pet Partners • Education & Special Events Judith John Huff Deborah Buckingham Tisch Brown Sue Julie Jim• Radda Becky Schell Jilly Riesch Warner Doris Bystrom • Pet Partners • Schmitt Education & Special Events Pet Partners • Matzke Education & Special Events • Cart & Newspaper Service • Hospice Will Davenport De Schoonover Donald Jackson Becky Schell Doris Bystrom Jueliet Menolascino Katie Robertson Carol Schneebeck Henry Williams Bette Caesar • Cart & Newspaper Service • Hospice • Cart & Newspaper Service • Hospice Denise Joy Christy Sing Amy DiSanto Beverly Shore Bette Caesar Regan Meyring Louisa Sandvig Rebecca Studer René Woodmencey Carol Connors Elaine Mary Carol Staiger Carol Connors Heather Smith David Dominik Sam MillerLaviage Ed Schmitt Jane Sullivan Ben Zacks Elizabeth Drapela Rob Woodson Kelsea Love Kristin Tear Dyke Molly CookGeckeler Pam Swift Jenny Stearns Judith Schmitt Hamish Debbie Elisabeth Christi Yannelli Meggan Stordahl Elizabeth Drapela IzzyJulie TrottMatzke De Schoonover Rick Walls Evarts MeaLs with Sue Hall Jasmine McKinney Joni Upsher John Fox Sue Hall Hanson Madeline Webb Mary Carol Staiger Barbara Zelazo a MissiOn Diane Linda Melcer PET PARTNERS Diane Hanson Nancy Woodward Debbie Geckeler Josie Welfl Cathy Ward Liz Lockhhart Kimberly Hetrick Mari Auman & Ruby Jueliet Menolascino Margi Griffith Kimberly Chelcie Yonke Chuck Webber spirituaL Care Jen Love YvonneHetrick Henze Inger Hanson Jake Biamonte Madeline Webb Yvonne Henze Other serviCes Deedee Breason Pat Patrini Pam Hill HOSPICE Leslye Hardie Lisbeth Beise Earleen Horn (Joint replacement, pet partners Verena Cushman Sue Riesch Earleen Horn OTHER Godiva Florin Ion Matthew Bart Carolynn Hawtin Dinner withSERVICES a Doc, Lisbeth&Beise & Godiva Carolyn Daily Christy Sing Barb Huhn Teresa Godcheck (Joint Replacement, Keely Herron Jackie Larson Bette Caesar health fair, front Desk, Andrew Byron & Hoback Will Davenport Meggan Stordahl Marilee Jaquith Bill Hill Penny Dinner with a Doc, Robin Gallivan Maralyn Larson Music, newspaper Carolyn&Daily & Sam David Dominik Joni Upsher Lisa Jennings Becky Hawkins Healthadministrative) Fair, Front Elizabeth Gerhard Mercedes Huff Elaine Laviage Tessa Enright & Dexter Delivery, Annette Eastman Polly Weaver Jackie Larson Desk, Music, Robert Kass Hemmings Robin MacLeod Margaret Harris SuzieEmery Kirvinskee & Zeta Travis Brant Elisabeth Evarts Nancy Wilbrecht Maralyn Larson & Axel Rose Newspaper Delivery, Denise Joy Sarah Kerr Kathy Kjellgren Nina Lenz & George Devin Corey Debbie Geckeler Chelcie Yonke Marlene Lang Administrative) Suzie Kirvinskee Padgett Hoke Sierra Fulton Linda Judge Robin McGee & Roxy Jackie Crawford Alice Grant Robin MacLeod & Tucker & Rufus Travis Brant Dedre Mills Jackie Larson Sylvia Raumaker Karla Pendexter Vickie Giles Leslye Hardie hOspiCe Susan McCracken Devin Corey Maralyn Larson Sally Ruosch Sue Morgan Amy Lou RojoHochheiser & Tiki/Finn Anika Holmquist Bill Hill Mickey Babcock Mycah Miller Christie Laughery Nina Lenz & George John Jackie Crawford Patty Pappas-Staley Carol Schwender Pam Sather & Ozzie Huff John Hisey Matthew Bart Sylvia Raumaker Vickie Giles Sue Perkins Kate Lucas Martha Maddoz Craig Schwender Amanda Soliday & Otis Olga Johnson Sarah Kerr Bette Caesar Sally Ruosch Hazel & Hoback Dedre Anika Holmquist Hamish Tear Debbie Phillips Elizabeth Masek Bayless&Sword Mills Suzie Kirvinskee Steve Duerr Sean Russer Maia McCabe John Huff Ellen Rein EllenJayne WilsonOttman & Tracy Dave Mills Jackie Larson RobinSanford Gallivan Carol Schwender Ellen George Moran Karla Pendexter OlgaPeery Johnson ONCOLOGY Hadyn Maralyn Larson Elizabeth Gerhard Craig Schwender Donna Clark Becky Schell Marguerite Moran wheeLin’ & Rufus Dedre Mills fOr heaLin’ Jamie Pruess Christie Laughery Christine Goodman NikkiFrisbie Thompson Amy Rojo & Finn Dave Mills Becky Carol Schneebeck Ben Nardi vOLunteens Mike Sillman Kate Lucas MargaretStuder Harris IleneGlick Zwerin Stuart Palmer Soliday Hadyn Peery Marge Rebecca DylanAmanda Anderson Dillon Smith Elizabeth Masek Denise Joy Pastor Ben Pascal Brianne&Beale Otis Jamie Pruess Patty Hartnett Jane Sullivan Casey Stout Trent Linda Judge OnCOLOgy Bayless Sword Mike Sillman Hamish Tear Sue Moore Perkins Denise Joy George Moran Dedre Mills Donna Clark & Hoback Dillon Smith Jane Kusek Rick Walls Jim Radda Marguerite Moran Sue Morgan Becky Katie Robertson Ben ZacksFrisbie Barbara Zelazo

Patti Ludwig Julie Matzke BeckyMelcer Kimmel Linda Kathy Kjellgren Lee Naylon Patty Krause Gillian Ponce Michelle Kren Mary Ponce Jackie Larson Becky Rice Maralyn Larson Holly Richert Mary Ann Lawroski Susan Riesch Mary Lohuis Linda Rode Julie Rogers Matzke Kate Lee Naylon Vicki Rosenberg Joan Palmer Regina Schultz MaryWilson Ponce Scott Amy Holly Scott Richert Linda Susan Squillaci Riesch Laurie Linda Rode Janine Teske VickiUpsher Rosenberg Joni Lisa Rullman Jean Webber Sue Salzmann Robin Whitesides ReginaWilbrecht Schultz Nancy Amy Wilson Mary Willis Scott Linda Winslow Scott Cindy LaurieWood Squillaci Janet Joni Upsher Betty Zernik Jean Webber Nancy Wilbrecht Mary Willis Kristen Irvine Cindy Winslow Shay James Janet Wood let usabout knowvolunteer about any errors or omissions.

Please let us know about any errors or omissions. To Please learn more opportunities, call 739 7541.

Diana Joy Betty Zernik To learn more about volunteer opportunities, call 739 7541.

625 E. Broadway, Jackson, WY 625 E. Broadway, Jackson, WY

307 739 7541 307 739 7541

tetonhospital.org/volunteers tetonhospital.org/volunteers

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8 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

‘Cart lady’ wheels in cheer and snacks Small gestures can mean the most to people staying in the hospital.‌

By Kylie Mohr

S

he introduces herself to patients as “Linda, the cart lady.”

Her cart — the wheels of the hospital’s Wheelin’ and Healin’ program — is stocked with goodies: snacks and beverages, puzzles and newspapers.

As one of 150-plus volunteers who make St. John’s Medical Center run smoothly, Linda “the cart lady” Melcer is a mainstay of the hospital’s cart-pushing program.

Once a week Melcer stocks the cart with items that can make a hospital stay a little more comfortable. She has beverages — juice and tea for patients who can drink more than clear liquids, for example — and day brighteners like puzzles, back scratchers, decks of cards, coloring books and copies of the Jackson Hole Daily.

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Linda Melcer has been volunteering with St. John’s Medical Center’s Wheelin’ for Healin’ program for about 18 months, delivering snacks, beverages, games and books to patients to help make their stay a little more comfortable.

She wheels up and down the halls, knocking on doors and offering a smile while try-

ing to avoid a collision in the bustling hallways. Staying out of the way on her rounds

can be challenging, but Melcer does so with ease.

“Our volunteers are such

an important part of the care team. The cart is no exception to that,” said Blair Christy, the hospital’s director of patient experience and volunteer services. “It’s a connection point for patients and their families, and it’s an important part of the day, for sure.

“It’s the seemingly small gestures that go the furthest with our patients.”

After upping her supplies and consulting with the primary care unit administrators, Melcer is ready to visit rooms. A big part of her duties, she said, is knowing how to approach patients and their families. She chats with them if the opportunity arises, but “you don’t want to bother them,” she said.

On a snowy February afternoon she visited a handful of patients’ rooms, including that of Jim Bockelman, of Salmon, Idaho. Fresh off a left knee replacement a few hours earlier, Bockelman and his wife, Lynn, welcomed the visit and a cup of tea.

Joni Upsher, the hospital’s See Cart Lady on 9

Lend a hand St. John’s Medical Center has a variety of volunteer opportunities, including spots in spiritual care, the Living Center, Pet Partners, music and healing, patient care unit, oncology, hospice, administration and joint replacement.

All prospective volunteers must: • Complete an application

• Have a personal interview • Undergo lab work, including drug testing, TB test, MMR, and flu shot • Complete an online background check • Attend orientation on general hospital procedures • Receive training in their interest area • Commit to serving a calendar year

Visit TetonHospital.org to download a copy of the volunteer application.

Once completed, the form may be sent to: St. John’s Medical Center, Dept. 915, P.O. Box 428, Jackson, WY 83001.

THANK YOU TETON RAPTOR CENTER

AMBASSADORS!

Soar!

FOR HELPING US

In 2018, our ambassadors turned it up a notch and donated over 9,300 hours to research, education, rehabilitation, and special events. Our ambassadors use their backgrounds from the medical field, teaching profession, and within the research realm to help us advance raptor conservation.

Join our incredible team of ambassadors by attending our next ambassador orientation, which will be held May 14, 2019.

Please email our Volunteer Coordinator, Jessie, at volunteers@tetonraptorcenter.org for more information.

tetonraptorcenter.org

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 9

Horse Warriors™ Volunteers Rock!!

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Linda Melcer delivers tea to Jim Bockelman, of Salmon, Idaho, who was fresh off a left knee replacement at St. John’s Medical Center in February.

Thanks to Our AmazingVolunteers for 20 Years of Empowering Support!

2019 Arena, Events, and Horse Stewardship Volunteers Welcome!

307-733-7464

www.horsewarriors.com • horsewarriors@wyoming.com

Cart Lady

ago. She wanted to “give back to the community that gives us so much” Continued from 8 and find camaraderie, she said. volunteer services coordinator, said Melcer, who was a nurse for 24 the program is an established part of years, is well suited to her volunteer volunteer opportunities having been role. She likes the Wheelin’ for Healin’ around for roughly 20 years. program because of the opportunity to “It’s nice to have another set of ears see patients again. and eyes coming to “Would I like see you,” she said. to be in the OR, The program is where I came also popular with from? Yes,” she teenagers during said. “But there the times of year aren’t volunteers when school is out. in the operating “It’s a great room.” volunteer segue Her diligence, for those kids particularly with who are looking — Blair Christy the dietary orfor medical expeders for each paSt. John’s medical center rience,” Upsher tient, is hard to said. “They can miss. relate to and man“Once a nurse, age the patients without a lot of stress.” always a nurse,” Melcer said. “It’s just Melcer has lived in Jackson with part of who I am.” her husband part time for the past five years. She started volunteering Contact Kylie Mohr at 732-7079 or at the hospital about a year and a half schools@jhnewsandguide.com.

“It’s the seemingly small gestures that go the furthest with our patients.”

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Are you strong, determined, and confident?

Not afraid to dig in, get dirty and lift others up?

GET INVOLVED! email: volunteer@tetonhabitat.org

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THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS

WE ARE HELPING TO END HUNGER IN TETON COUNTY! THE BOARD OF THE JACKSON CUPBOARD WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING VOLUNTEERS: Al Zuckerman Anda Ralph Andrea Evans Ann Carruth Ann Mattson Barbara McPeak Ben Read Bert Polkinghorne Beth Whitworth Bonnie Pockat Boy Scouts of America Jackson District Bridger Teton National Forest Cathy French Cathy Schreiber Cathy Teig Cliff Kirkpatrick David Carpenter Dawn Webster Denise Tsuruda-Dobell Dick Greig Emilee Helton Four Seasons Resort

Gaby Gutierrez Geneva Chong Jackson Hole Community School Jane Sullivan Jayne Ottman Jen Baxter John Wright JP Schubert Judy Greig Julie McLaurin Karen Smith Kathy Vaughn Les Jones Lesley Beckworth Lisa Carpenter Lisa Lowenfels Liz Lockhart Liz Sunshine Loretta Kirkpatrick Louie Armstrong Madeleine Francis Mark Kelleher Martha Gilmore Martin Moria-Garcia Matt Hall Meredith Hein Michael Lamere Mike Cloherty

Mike Conlin Mike Keegan Mindy Kim-Miller Nancy Riddle Nancy Watkins Patty Staley Raylene McCalman Richard Rice Stephanie Brennan Stephanie Thomas St. John’s Episcopal Church Employees Susan Burkitt Susan DeMuro Susan Hall Tamara Harmon Tracy Nelson Trissta Lyman Valerie Goettler Victoria Munoz Willi Brooks Wilma Greczyn Albertsons Jackson Whole Grocer Hole Food Rescue Lucky’s Market Smith’s Food & Drug Premier Green Cleaning

We would also like to thank St. John’s Episcopal Church for housing the Jackson Cupboard, the various businesses, churches, clubs, schools, & individuals who conducted food drives on our behalf, too many to mention but know that your help is greatly appreciated!

Volunteer Board Members: Amy Brooks, Shirley Craighead, Leslye Hardie, Therese Metherell, Evan Molyneaux, Cathy Poindexter, Mike Randall, Jim Ryan, Paul Vogelheim, Operations Director, Rachel Daluge Please forgive us if your name was mistakenly omitted but know that your help is also greatly appreciated!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

CALL OR TEXT US AT (307) 699-2163 OR EMAIL US AT JACKSONCUPBOARD.ORG

Located in the basement of St. John’s Episcopal Church 170 N. Glenwood St. | jacksoncupboard@gmail.org

FIND US ON

AND

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10 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Boards pool knowledge for nonprofits Jackson’s volunteers bring diverse backgrounds to the boardroom table.

By Julie Kukral

F

rom eliminating food waste to offering arts education to providing health care, nonprofits help make Jackson function.

“We don’t have a big city to rely on here,” Community Foundation of Jackson Hole President Katharine Conover said. “It does mean that [nonprofits] are filling more needs here, but that’s because those needs don’t get met elsewhere.”

While nonprofits fill the needs of the community, volunteers log thousands of hours annually keeping the organizations ticking. Nonprofit boards come in different shapes and sizes — every 501(c)(3) is required by state statute to have at least three board members — but every board seat comes with responsibility.

“The board is responsible for not only making sure that you’re meeting your mission fiscally responsibly, but that you’re doing what the community wants you to be doing,” Conover said. “The classic thought is to have your board be comprised of wealth, wisdom and work.”

From nothing to something Some of those W’s are more important than BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE others at different times in an organization’s Attorney Brenda Wylie serves on the board for the Center for the Arts. evolution. Take the Jackson Hole Lacrosse Club, Serving on several boards in addition to workwhich was founded in 2012 by a group of a half- Lacrosse Club board, but she holds a seat on two othdozen parents, including attorney Brenda Wylie. ers: the Center for the Arts board and the Board of ing full time has her missing more family dinners than she’d like. But it offers a chance to pass on “I’m from Maryland, and I wanted my daugh- Law Examiners for the Wyoming State Bar. Though she enjoys art on a spectator basis, expertise, give back, as well as open doors for herter to have the same opportunities that I had,” she said. (If you didn’t know, Maryland takes la- Wylie confessed, “I’m a lawyer; I know nothing self professionally. Just recently she had dinner with Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Kari Gray. about the arts.” crosse very seriously.)

“I would never be able to have dinner with a That is OK. In fact, Though not low on it can be encouraged. Wyoming Supreme Court justice if I wasn’t on good intention, the Healthy boards pool the Law Examiners Board,” Wylie said. club’s founders had litwisdom from diverse tle experience launchbackgrounds, Conover Keeping on course ing or running a youth Twenty-three people make up the Jackson said. sports program. From Under the leader- Hole Land Trust’s board of directors. filling out insurance Among the nearly two dozen volunteers are ship of Center for the paperwork to orderArts board President experts in legal matters, design and city planing uniforms, the early Opatrny, Wylie ning, banking and capital management. Some board members were — Katharine Conover Don played an active role members are people who have experience on responsible for crosscommunity foundation of jackson hole in negotiating the Cen- boards of other successful organizations, a skill ing every T and dotting ter’s 99-year lease with set that can’t be ignored, board President Jason every I. It was, simply town and county attor- Snider said. put, a lot of work.

Snider was tapped for the experience he has The club, now in its seventh year, has grown to neys. When the Center was rebranding, however, at his “day job” as a co-founder of Agrostis Inc., include 300-some kids in its programming. Now Wylie was less crucial to the decision-making proa landscape architecture and land planning firm cess and defaulted to the marketing and PR gurus that the organization is run by staff, board members can be less hands-on in the club’s regular in the room. Nonetheless, she was able to learn a in Teton County.

“I was really fascinated in what [the Land operations, a common transition as an organiza- lot from the process.

“But as I was sitting there I learned from it,” Trust] was doing and to see how it worked from tion stabilizes.

See Boards on 11 Wylie has stepped down from the Jackson Hole she said. “So that’s the benefit: I learned a lot.”

“The classic thought is to have your board be comprised of wealth, wisdom and work.”

r o f s r e e t n u l Thank youg vwohat you love! supportin

In 2018, library volunteers donated nearly 10,000 hours!

To get involved, contact Maria: 307-733-2164 x3255 mhayashida@tclib.org

tclib.org

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 11

Boards

Continued from 10

the other side of things,” Snider said. “As somebody that is still working with landowners with conservation easements, it’s been helpful to understand how things are working on a staff side of things.”

Snider served on the Land Trust board for seven years before taking the role of president this year.

Being president is a much larger commitment because he is involved with meeting with and coordinating each committee. Though he gets to give back to a conservation-minded nonprofit, he, in return, gets invaluable information he can use professionally. And though it’s a commitment, the board is efficient and effective in its work, he said.

“It’s such a high-functioning organization,” he said.

“There’s a bunch of interesting, smart people to think of creative solutions to problems, and I get to meet and get to know people in the community that I may not have the ordinary chance to do so.”

Setting an example The spirit of service can be addicting. Often when you find people serving on one board you find they are also serving on others.

Jennifer Sparks works as a senior portfolio manager and partner at Friess Associates. By night — or, rather, by other parts of day — she also serves on the boards of the Jackson Hole

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Jason Snider is president of the Jackson Hole Land Trust board. He served on the board for seven years before taking the lead role.

Jennifer Sparks serves on the boards of the Jackson Hole Land Trust and Teton County Search and Rescue, among others.

Land Trust, the Rendezvous Lands Conservancy and the Friends of Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center. She has also carved out time to volunteer with Teton County Search and Rescue since 1998 and recently joined the board of the Teton County Search and

munity’s spirit of volunteerism and philanthropy.

It’s something that seems to be rubbing off on her daughter, who “oftentimes will tag along” to volunteer events.

“I think my daughter seeing me volunteer my time has made her understand

Rescue Foundation.

Sparks’ came-to-Jackson story is similar to many: she moved to Jackson a year out of college and grew roots. She loves the access to nature and recreational opportunities, but she also has a fondness for the com-

the importance of giving back to your community,” she said.

Addicting — and apparently contagious.

Contact Julie Kukral via 732-7076 or valley@jhnewsandguide.com.

THANK YOU! Teton County Emergency Management would like to thank the volunteers of the following agencies for making Jackson Hole a more disaster-resilient community. Without your hard work and dedication we wouldn’t be able to provide the critical services the public truly needs in times of crisis.

THE AGENCIES AND WHAT THEY DO ARE:

American Red Cross of Wyoming, Jackson Team

Teton County Community Emergency Response Team

Sheltering and feeding of people in disasters, disaster mental health services, emergency preparedness training for the public, and disaster damage assessments.

Neighborhood emergency response in large disasters, public fire extinguisher training, emergency responder rehabilitation unit, and surge capacity for local emergency response agencies.

VOAD BOARD MEMBERS: American Red Cross of Wyoming-Jackson Hole Team | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints | Jackson Cupboard | PAWS of Jackson Hole | Redeemer Lutheran Church | Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole | One22

PAWS of JH Disaster Animal Response Team

Teton County Emergency Operations Center Support Staff

Sheltering, feeding and care of animals during disasters.

Volunteer staffing of Teton County’s EOC during emergencies.

Teton County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster Collaborative group of critical voluntary agencies that have agreed to assist the Jackson Hole community with unmet needs such as food, clothing, emergency funds, volunteers, crisis counseling, and other services during disasters.

MEMBERS: Cornerstone Church | Flat Creek Church | Good Samaritan Mission | Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area | Hole Food Rescue | Jackson Elks Lodge #1713 | JH Community Counseling Center | JH Horse Rescue | Kiwanis Club of Jackson Hole | National Museum of Wildlife Art | Rotary Club of Jackson Hole | Salvation Army | Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church | St. John’s Episcopal Church | Teton County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) | Teton County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (RACES) | Teton County Systems of Care | WY Dept. of Workforce Services- Jackson Center | Jackson Hole Lions Club | Teton Valley Seventh-Day Adventist Church | Teton County Pet Partners SUPPORT: Teton County Emergency Management | Teton County Health Department | First Western Trust

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12 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

“Poop fairy” Jane Frisch gives treats to Scarlett, 4, left, and Cam Sebastian, 3, right, while their mom, Keel Sebastian, keeps an eye on Stout, Zonker and Vida. Frisch hands out empty bags to dog par

Poop Fairy makes

Dog owner Jane Frisch cleans up some of the mess others leave behind.

By Jennifer Dorsey

O

n an icy January morning Jane Frisch walked around the short stretch of snow-covered walkway between the Emily’s Pond parking lot and the Snake River dike path, scraping frozen lumps of dog-doo into mutt mitts.

One bag, two, three … all told she transferred about two dozen bags’ worth of the brown stuff from trail to trash can.

Making poop go “poof” is a passion for Frisch. She recalls cleaning up 17 piles in half a mile in her old neighborhood in Scottsdale, Arizona, and more than 50 piles while walking on the Stilson-to-Wilson path in her new home of Jackson Hole.

Call her a “poop fairy.” She wears the title proudly.

“This is something I’ve been doing in communities I’ve lived in for over 25 years,” she said.

Frisch, a West Bank resident in her mid-70s, believes in tackling problems, not griping about them.

She thinks people should return grocery carts to the proper spot, for example, so if she spots abandoned carts in a parking lot she rolls them to their racks.

It’s the same thing with dog poop. Though she’d prefer pet owners to take care of their own messes, she’s ready to pitch in when they don’t. That’s become especially important to her in Jackson Hole, where she and her husband, Ron, have lived full time since 2016.

“I think we should respect the beauty of this place,” Frisch said. “We need to help this environment, and Cover: PAWS of Jackson Hole trail ambassador Jane Frisch, a “Poop Fairy,” poses for a portrait at the Snake River dike.

REBECCA NOBLE / NEWS&GUIDE

we need to do what needs to be done instead of waiting for people to change their habits.”

She knows others are out there retrieving full mutt mitts that people drop along trails and sometimes even bagging excess dog-doo. She’s so devoted to clean paths and trails that she hopes to create a new PAWS of Jackson Hole volunteer corps of poop-picker-uppers.

“If enough people want to be the solution rather than complaining about the problem and contact PAWS, I will commit to helping get the ‘Poop Fairy Brigade’ organized,” she said. “There are many poop fairies on all of our trails making a difference every day, but with a little organization together we can make a big difference.”

In no way is it Frisch’s goal to let lazy or careless dog owners off the hook. In addition to her unofficial role as poop fairy she has an official volunteer position as one of PAWS’ trail ambassadors, whose job is to educate dog owners on how they should behave and then gently persuade them to do it.

It’s things like always carrying a leash and using it where required, not letting dogs chase moose and deer and keeping dogs from jumping on people or nipping at bikers. And, yes, it’s about dog-doo, too, not only putting it into a bag but making sure that bag goes into a trash receptacle.

Frisch tries to get out at least once a week — usually on the dike or the Stilson path in the winter and lesstraveled spots in warmer weather — to do double duty as a PAWS trails ambassador on the outbound portion of her walk and as poop fairy on the return leg.

As an ambassador “I come out here to encourage people to do the right thing,” Frisch said. As for the dog feces, “I pick it up on the way back. That’s my personal thing.”

Pawsitive accountability PAWS is lucky to have Frisch in its volunteer ranks, said Jess Farr, who is program director at the nonprofit that promotes responsible pet ownership.

Dasher sits pretty on the Snake River dike. Frisch, who is a voluntee out treats to well-behaved dogs and humans alike as part of her w

“She’s awesome,” Farr said. “I really like her outlook. Her attitude is ‘I’m just going to be the solution to the problem.’ I think that’s an amazing way to confront something like that.”

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 13

Lend a hand

REBECCA NOBLE / NEWS&GUIDE Photos

Don’t like the sight of dog-doo on trails and streets?

PAWS volunteer Jane Frisch and Program Director Jess Farr invite you to help form a Poop Fairy Brigade.

It would be a low-stress kind of volunteer commitment. The idea is that, if enough people raise their hand, each would be assigned a particular spot to clean up on a regular basis.

Though most dog owners know they should pick up after their pet, some will never bother.

“There are people who are just not going to follow the rules,” Farr said. “We have to be the solution to that.

“We could talk all day about ways to get people to change. Let’s just be the change.”

Frisch said, “It’s often easier to complain about any problem than it is to ‘be the solution.’

“It’s also so much easier to say, ‘I’m not the cause of the problem, why should I have to help solve it?’ In my almost 3/4 century of living I’ve never seen that way of thinking solve a problem.”

The idea of the brigade is to keep the inaction of a few bad apples from leading to feces overload on popular trails and pathways.

“All it takes is one week of neglecting a certain area and we can go back to ground zero,” Farr said “It’s important to have a constant effort. That’s where my volunteers come into play.”

Farr said dog owners should remember that bad behavior by some could result in a loss of privileges for all.

In 2015 the Bridger-Teton National Forest called a one-week timeout for dogs, banning them from areas like Cache Creek, the Hagen and Ferrins trails and the Nelson Drive trailhead.

Dog run-ins with wildlife were one reason. Poop was another: Bridger-Teton staffers had counted 168 piles left by dog owners near the Cache Creek trailhead in one month.

Beyond being smelly and unsightly, feces is an environmental and public health hazard. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as nonpoint source pollution, putting it up there with acid residue from mines, pesticides, fertilizers and other toxins that are washed into lakes, rivers and wetlands by rain and snowmelt.

Dog stool also contains protozoa like giardia and cryptosporidium; roundworms; and bacteria that make people sick, including salmonella and E.coli. There is evidence that some bacteria in dog poop may be antibiotic-resistant.

So using mutt mitts is serious business, just like keeping pets from harassing deer and moose or knocking over children and elderly people.

“These areas are ours to lose as dog owners,” Farr said. “These places will get shut down if we do not control our animals as well as pick up after them. It’s happened before, and it will happen again.”

If you are interested in joining the brigade, call 734-2471.

rents and rewards those who pick up poop.

“It’s a delicate art,” Frisch said while scooping one of an estimated 50 to 60 piles of poop on the Snake River dike. “My passion is to be a part of the solution for this problem every community has. I make a little difference, but a lot of people making a little difference makes a big difference.”

the piles go ‘poof’ you want other people to pick up poop, do it yourself and try to recruit them.”

The ambassadors are all about positivity. PAWS outfits them with fanny packs filled with Greenies dog treats, leashes and even some goodies for people.

Let’s say you’re out on a Cache Creek trail with your pooch and nearing the trailhead/parking area, where there’s a leash rule.

An ambassador might ask if you have a leash, explain why you need it and, if you don’t have one, pull one out for you.

“I like ambassadors to tell them why,” Farr said.

“Then they hand them a leash and say ‘Thank you.’”

The ambassadors are also keeping an eye out for the many pet owners who are doing the right thing. You might get a coffee or beer token for giving your pet a drink of water on a hot day or putting him on a leash because some deer are browsing nearby.

Engaging in what Farr calls “poop karma” could also earn you a treat. That’s when you carry away a bunch of full mutt mitts, not just your own, and pick up other dogs’ splotches in addition to your pet’s.

“Our whole premise is that it’s a reward-based program,” Farr said. “I don’t want anyone feeling uncomfortable or feeling confrontational. It’s all about ‘Let’s give everybody the tools to do the right thing.’”

part of her email address, and she and her husband are raising a standard poodle named Ranger.

“We’re dog people,” she said.

As a pet owner Frisch understood why there was so much mess near the Emily’s Pond parking lot.

“The biggest problem in any of these areas is where the dogs are getting out of the car for the first time,” she said. “The dogs tend to relieve themselves when they’re in new territory. The owners are getting their gear ready, and they don’t see it.

“At any of the trail— Jess Farr heads, if the owners PAWS of jackson hole could just be a little more observant ...”

Actually, keeping an eye out throughout a walk or hike is important.

“On the trails dogs may drift behind or ahead of us and we don’t see the surprises they leave,” Frisch said.

But once she was out on the dike on that January walk it seemed as though the PAWS message of responsibility was getting through to people. The snow was pretty clean, for example, and the dog walkers were prepared.

“Can I give your dog a Greenie?” Frisch asked each one to get the conversation rolling. “Do you have a mutt mitt? Do you need another one?”

The people all carried mutt mitts, even spares, and had leashes, too. No one seemed to mind being queried, and their dogs appreciated the treats.

“On the trail with PAWS I love visiting with people,” Frisch said. “I love rewarding the people doing the right things and maybe helping other people understand the importance of keeping it clean.”

“If you want other people to pick up poop, do it yourself and try to recruit them.”

er for the PAWS of Jackson Hole trail ambassador program, hands work helping to keep trails safe and doo-doo free.

Dog-doo cleanup is not a requirement for the trail ambassador position, “but most ambassadors take it upon themselves to do it,” Farr said.

“Our premise is to lead by example,” she said. “If

Trail conversations Frisch has no problem talking to dog owners. She has worked in real estate and automotive sales — careers that require being comfortable with conversation.

And she’s a canine lover herself. “Dawgswirld” is

Contact Jennifer Dorsey at jennifer@jhnewsandguide. com or 732-5908.

14 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Immigrant Hope leads way to citizenship Nonprofit seeks volunteers to help sustain its work with newcomers who want to become Americans.‌

By Emily Mieure Lori McCune started working with immigrants decades ago, after a raid detained hundreds, transporting some to jail in a horse trailer.

“I made 200 phone calls that day to figure out how I could help people,” McCune said.

In the 20 years since then she has launched a local chapter of Immigrant Hope, a nationwide nonprofit that guides immigrants through the process of gaining temporary or permanent legal status, and she has become an accredited representative through the Department of Justice.

Her work with the nonprofit has her serving Wyoming and Idaho, helping immigrants fill out the proper paperwork to get the ball rolling toward citizenship or a green card. The longtime Driggs, Idaho, resident holds office hours every Monday in Jackson and travels to surrounding counties to assist those needing help.

“Every couple and every family has a different story,” she said.

Immigrant Hope also helps clients pay for the pricey paperwork submissions, the cost of which can creep into the thousands. The nonprofit participated in Old Bill’s for the first time in 2018 and was able to raise $11,000. But the money goes fast, McCune said.

She has found her work heartwarming and rewarding, recalling a 20-year resident who recently received his citizenship — “These are our neighbors, and it’s exciting to see their faces when things come through,” she said. But volunteers have waned.

Keeping the organization alive is a lot of work

for what has dwindled to a one-woman show.

She and Jeff Brown founded the local chapter of Immigrant Hope in 2013. But Brown is busy raising a family, and McCune, 65, needs volunteers to help not only with her current workload but with expanding needs.

“I am ready to see this be sustainable for a long time and I cannot do this by myself,” McCune said. “This is something worth keeping in our community and I would like to see it continue.”

Immigration lawyer and public defender Elisabeth Trefonas said Immigrant Hope is doing some of the most important immigration work in Jackson.

“Lori works tirelessly to help immigrants who are not able to afford legal services to apply for permission to lawfully remain in the United States,” Trefonas said. “If we lost Immigrant Hope our would lose an in— Lori McCune community valuable resource for those Immigrant hope immigrants here with little to no support or help.”

McCune acts as executive director, bookkeeper and secretary on top of her duties as an accredited representative for the nonprofit.

“I really need someone to come alongside me and think bigger,” she said. “I will be 65 this year. That doesn’t mean I’ll throw up my hands, but we do need interested people who aren’t 65.”

“This is something worth keeping in our community.”

Contact Emily Mieure at 732-7066 or courts@jhnewsandguide.com.

RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE

Lori McCune is a Department of Justice-accredited representative for Immigrant Hope in Idaho and Wyoming.

The organization offers low-cost services and advice about immigration-related legal matters.

Lend a hand Those interested in volunteering for Immigrant Hope don’t necessarily need to be bilingual, Lori McCune said. The only requirements, in fact, are that volunteers are interested in the work and have time to spare.

Want more info or ready to log some hours? Contact McCune at 208-709-0131 or wyomingidaho@immigranthope.org.

THANK YOU

Jackson’s Planning & Zoning Commission / Board of Adjustment

Thanks to our

volunteers!

We appreciate all the AmeriCorps members, board members and other volunteers who have donated their time to support Teton Science Schools’ mission to inspire curiosity, engagement and leadership through transformative place-based education.

Thomas Smits Anne Schuler Abigail Petri David Vandenberg Katie Wilson William Gale Chris Beaulieu Thank you for your service to this community – striving to keep Jackson a great place to work and live.

www.tetonscience.org 361440

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 15

Water filters link towns across globe Julia Heemstra, Jackson Rotary Club address crisis at a school in South Africa.

sure from [the student union] to close school in this last term when we were completely out of municipal water for weeks and weeks on end,” Nombulelo Principal Nicci Hayes wrote in an email to the News&Guide.

By Tom Hallberg In mid-January, Mahkanda, South Africa, reached a crisis point.

Like much of the country, the city faced an extreme drought and shrinking levels in reservoirs that feed its water supply, with one dam at less than 15 percent of capacity, according to reports in the local paper, the Grocott’s Mail. Schools, including Rhodes University, a major economic driver in the region, reported that without an influx of water or infrastructural changes, they would have to close.

Julia Heemstra watched the unfolding crisis from halfway around the world in Jackson. She grew up in Mahkanda, formerly named Grahamstown, and felt compelled to act. With a South African postal service that can take months to deliver packages, Heemstra decided to take a trip home last year, carrying a few water filters in her luggage.

“Literally there was no faster way to get these filters there,” she said.

However, thousands of students in the region were without potable water, sometimes for weeks as the municipal water supply struggled, making them part of the more than 2 billion people worldwide who lack clean drinking water. Unable to flush toilets, cook food and wash hands, primary and secondary schools began closing around the time Heemstra took her first batch of filters in June 2018. A subsequent

“Why this project?

It’s education; it’s the health of the families.

This supports all those things really well.”

— Tony Paulus Rotary Club of Jackson HOle

COURTESY PHOTO

A Nombulelo Secondary School student holds up two glasses, the one on the right showing the murky, not potable water the school gets through either water collection or the municipal supply, and another on the left showing purified water run through a filter.

trip with a few more filters, which she sources from the nonprofit Waves for Water, allowed Heemstra to give them to an orphanage and to Nombulelo Secondary School, which installed them in its kitchen and administrative offices.

The school had a few rain collection tanks, but municipal water flowed for only a few hours a day in 2018, an untenable situation at an institution that serves more than 900 students. Access to clean water is one of the most basic physi-

ological requirements, according to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow placed meeting physiological needs as the integral foundation upon which people can participate in activities deemed self-actualization, or the realization of their full potential.

For students, institutional learning is a big part of self-actualization, and without clean water, Nombulelo’s administrators faced the tough decision on whether to close.

“There was quite a bit of pres-

After her first couple of trips Heemstra realized the project needed a partner with international connections and fundraising savvy if she was going to solve the watersupply problem at Nombulelo. In November she went to the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole to pitch the supper club on sending a larger round of filters that would cover the school’s students.

Rotary works in two ways: First, business leaders and professionals from diverse industries are recruited or join individual clubs, assembling a group with a range of highlevel skills, from fiscal management to engineering to education administration. Second, the clubs, which are in 35,000 global communities, are linked through Rotary’s network.

“That’s why you can call the president of the Rotary Club almost See water on 20

Thank You 2018-19 Volunteers!

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered at the Museum in the past year.

You are the heart of our Museum community, and continue to inspire us with your generosity and talent.

We couldn’t do it without you.

Cathy Adkins Don Alsted - W Vickie Atwater Ann Marie Babb Laurie Bay - D Lucy Bayles Grace Beckley Jan Benz, W Sally Berman - D, W Eric Bindseil Heather Black - D Eileen Blackwell Ed Brenegar Greg Brondos - W Susan Brooks - D, W Jim Byrne - D, W Sally Byrne - D, W Lisa Carlin - W Maggie Davis Patricia Dempsey William Dennis Susan Erickson - D Bill Finerty Lucretia Finlay Lisa Fleischman - D Juanita Flores

Pamela Flores Joyce Frye Ashlie Gilbert Natalie Goss - W Gigi Halloran - D, W Diane Hanson - W Will Hopkins Barb Huhn - W Jade Hutchison Alison Jones - D, W Ann Keller Diane Key - W Charlotte Kidd Patty Krause Carla Kussner Harry Lawroski - W Mary Ann Lawroski - W Anne Lippold Kip MacMillan - D Jane Malashock - D Steve Malashock 2018 Volunteer of the Year Bob Martin - D, W Susan Martindale Dan Matzke Julie Matzke - D, W

Nancy McCarthy - W Corah Pittman Miller Kris McMillan Maggie Moore Molly Moore Erika Muschaweck - W Ann Nelson - W Milessa Ortiz Judy Pilgrim - W Cynthia Quast - W Karen Rockey - D Ellen Sanford - D, W Carol Schneebeck - W Regina Schultz Christy Smirl Ellen Dibble Stetson Caroline Taylor - D Bobbi Thomasma - D, W Martha Van Genderen - D, W Mary Waid - W Laurel “Bru” Wicks Mary Willis - W Dawna Wilson John Wilson - W Kerry Winterer Elizabeth Wright

D = Docent W = Wyoming Sage Society (>500 Hours Volunteered)

307-733-5771 | Open Daily | Just 2.5 Miles from Town Square | WildlifeArt.org Sculpture: Bart Walter (United States, b. 1958), Wapiti Trail—detail, modeled 2005, cast 2007. Bronze. Lifesize. Purchased with funds generously donated by an anonymous benefactor, National Museum of Wildlife Art. © Bart Walter.

360493

16 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Partnerships make Cache Creek better National forest is purposely pushing people toward near-town trailhead. ‌

By Mike Koshmrl

D

isregard of the rules at Cache Creek had grown so bad four years ago that dog owners received a oneweek “timeout” during which furry friends weren’t allowed.

For one, dog poop at the popular near-town recreation destination was everywhere: One month that winter a Bridger-Teton National Forest patroller tallied 168 leftbehind turd piles. Remote motion-sensor cameras snapped pics of pooches chasing moose.

By the dozen, people violated leash laws along trails like Putt-Putt that abut off-limits wildlife winter range. The situation was tense and untenable, land managers declared when they scolded folks by imposing the “timeout.”

Fast forward to today, and that tension has largely been defused. It’s not for lack of people — in fact, when forest planners updated their master trails plan in 2015 they sought to concentrate the crowds at Cache and the greater Snow King area. But the people who are going are generally better behaved, as are their dogs. Chalk the newfound harmony up to organizations and community members that have donated time and dollars to improve

we could have achieved the dispose of them.

Trail maintenance also improvement we’ve seen in that area.” falls largely on nonprofit orThe volunteering and phi- ganizations that volunteer lanthropy-based effort at the their time and efforts. well-trodden trails branching Friends of Pathways’ trails out of Jackson’s southeastern program manager, Chris reaches starts with getting Owen, leads schoolchildren and volunteers to assist with more boots on the ground.

The Jackson Hole group trail improvement projects, Friends of Pathways and the Merigliano said.

The main Cache Creek Grand Teton Association employ seasonal workers and drag in the wintertime is track down volunteers who groomed with Teton County/ J a c k s o n function as Parks and “trail ambasRecreation sadors” and Department keep tabs machinery on not just and funded Cache but jointly by the other popular county and valley trail state of Wyosegments and ming.

But networks. grooming of These de facto patrol— Linda Merigliano the offshoot like lers inform bridger-teton national forest routes, the Hagen dog walkers and Puttof the rules, Putt trails, including new ones like a leash law is another task that falls to that covers trailhead areas at Friends of Pathways.

More than 90 nifty new Cache and on Teton Pass and a prohibition against leaving wayfinding signs that went bagged dog poop on the trail up in the Cache, Game and — even if you’re circling back Snow King areas in 2017 also trace to the Friends of Pathto pick it up.

PAWS of Jackson Hole ways. The donated signage plays a major role, Meriglia- includes GPS coordinates and no said, by providing a nev- precise mileage to the trail er-ending stock of bags for junctions and trailheads, but that dog poop. Once the free they also incorporate graphbags serve their purpose ics-based messaging about and are stacked up by the best practices and expectadozen in bins left near the tions on the trail.

“Pick up your dog’s poop,” Cache trailhead, it’s PAWS See Partnerships on 21 employees who pick up and

“Many people have commented on how much better it seems.”

RUGILE KALADYTE / NEWS&GUIDE FILE

Volunteer trail ambassador Olivia Meigs warns a runner of a bull moose on the road about 100 yards from the Cache Creek trailhead in 2016. The program has helped inform dog walkers of the rules, including new ones like a leash law that covers trailheads at Cache and on Teton Pass.

the Cache Creek experience.

“To me,” Bridger-Teton Wilderness and Recreation

Manager Linda Merilgiano said, “without all these partnerships there’s no way

The hearts of our Volunteers are not measured in size, but by the depth of their commitments to make a difference in the lives of others.

u o Y k Than LKS LODGE 1713 SON E K C JA

Thanks to all the many volunteers who give selflessly of their time and talents.

We couldn’t do it without you!

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 17

THANK YOU Citizens Mounted Unit

For countless hours of volunteering

in an effort to keep Jackson safe and informed!

Kristi Ackland-Clarke Connie Burke Jeff Daugherty Sylvia DiPrisco Della Drews

Jane Elam Steve Elam Tom Fergusson Cindi Friend Jo Gathercole

Don Harpell Jean Kitchen Craig Knecht Amanda Laykaiya Priscilla Marden

DeeAnne Maronick David Nalley Judy Nalley Naiane Nalley Tim Oakely

Ainsley Pratt Anpeytu Raben Lisa Ruschill Russ Ruschill Karn Saner

Mary Schmitt Lynette Shanaghy Cindy Stone Catherine Tallichet Natalie Tanaka Denise Topp

Interested in becoming a volunteer member of the Citizens Mounted Unit?

Contact Sergeant Russ Ruschill with the Jackson Police Department at 307-733-1430 New member training begins soon!

361437

18 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Avoiding the pitfalls of ‘voluntourism’ Jacksonites involve the locals in communities they help and stay connected after they leave.

By Tom Hallberg Imagine you’re packing for vacation.

Toiletries? Check. Beach reading? Check. Room left for at least one impulse souvenir? Check.

Pounds of medical supplies?

That last option isn’t usually on most people’s lists, but for Corrin Berg it’s essential. Berg heads Salud y Vida Nicaragua Community Health, a nonprofit she started to address a lack of health care education in villages along the Pacific Ocean coast in Nicaragua.

“I was on a surf trip, and the ecolodge I was staying at does lots of outreach,” Berg said. “I was talking with some of the women, and they would ask basic questions about rashes and handwashing.”

Berg realized that the women, the primary caregivers in the communities surrounding the ecolodge, didn’t know things about first aid and cleanliness that we take for granted in America.

Over subsequent trips she developed a health care curriculum that she teaches twice a year in the communities, and she leaves her pupils with a basic bag of medical supplies, like gauze and antibiotic ointment.

Berg is part of a growing contingent of travelers, sometimes referred to as voluntourists, who are often from wealthier nations and meld their travel with volunteering, perhaps building a school or installing rain catchment systems in arid climates.

On its face, voluntourism seems at worst innocuous, and at best altruistic, but the scant amount of available research presents a complicated picture.

“While ostensibly ‘helpful,’ volunteer tourism in Honduras is often harmful,” a study from Massey University in New Zealand said, “entrenching paternalism and inequitable relationships.”

The general motivation behind voluntourism is simple: Volunteers embark on a trip that provides a tangible service for a needy community and, in return, receive the intangible feeling of participating in something larger than themselves. However, the envisioned win-win relationship may not reflect reality.

MATT CIPOLLONE / COURTESY PHOTO

Corrin Berg teaches residents of the rural villages of western Nicaragua basic health skills, like how to avoid spreading germs by washing their hands. Berg gives her pupils extra sets of dental and medical kits so they can coach their peers.

Research “has suggested that [voluntourism] is more likely to have the qualities that are transformational for the tourist,” Stephen Wearing, an Australian professor whose work focuses on the industry, wrote in an email to the News&Guide.

Because of the logistical complexities involved in finding international needs, developing projects and building the infrastructure to take volunteers to lesser-developed countries, companies that lead trips for groups of (predominantly) Westerners have come to dominate the voluntourism industry. On one hand, companies can offer volunteers the chance to spend most of their time helping, instead of trip planning and researching, a bonus for people with full-time jobs, children and other

Thank You

to our Animal Shelter Volunteers!

Bruce Bowen Kahlan Wilson McKenzie Meyers Victor Menghetti Chris Moran Katie Metzler Janelle Conlin Jasmine McKinney Mike Conlin Ingrid Watsabaugh Steve Saez Victoria Munoz Alli Noland Annette Osnos Jess Farr Jackie Polzin Kent Fiske

Anu Ponnamma Whitney Royster Janelle Holden Kira Heller Nina Ruberti Jessica Hutchinson Jane Koopman Alexis Sarthou Ramsey Skrepenski Joe Larrow Shannon Stec The Stines Family Hope Linn Alyssa Watkins Brigitte Stuckart Jada MacLean

Interested in volunteering?

Contact Nancy Van Buskirk, Volunteer Coordinator, Jackson/Teton County Animal Shelter.

307-734-2441 or nancy@pawsofjh.org

time-consuming responsibilities.

But the companies can contribute to the negative neocolonial aspects of the industry that some studies have outlined, which include bringing volunteers to fill roles that locals could, creating infrastructure that communities are not equipped to sustain and entrenching a global “us and them” attitude.

Berg and other Jacksonites who have undertaken service trips abroad identified their projects as separate from the broader commercial voluntourism industry, namely, they said, because they have taken steps to avoid its pitfalls.

“No. 1 is not having this colonialist impact. It’s See Voluntourism on 19

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 19

Voluntourism Continued from 18

not a white savior thing; we’ve tried so hard to stay out of that category,” said Augusta Friendsmith, who is preparing to leave on her seventh international trip to build houses with Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area. “We’re watching the cycle of poverty break by putting people in homes.”

Friendsmith said Habitat does several things when planning a homebuilding trip. The houses it builds are concrete-block construction, so Habitat enlists masons and foremen in the communities, which creates or sustains jobs for locals. Habitat also hires skilled workers like electricians and plumbers for homes that include those types of amenities to further avoid filling roles that locals otherwise might.

To avoid the impression of swooping in for one project and leaving, Habitat uses its global network of outreach coordinators to provide on-the-ground logistical support and follow-up with new homeowners. The Massey University study showed that without follow-up regression could erase the gains made through voluntourism in affected communities.

Julia Heemstra, who works with the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole to deliver and install water filters in South African villages, pointed to a similar organizational benefit as the Habitat projects. Her project, undertaken near where she grew up in Grahamstown, South Africa, uses the local Rotary Club to identify needs and ensure proper functioning of the filters long after Heemstra returns to Jackson, particularly in one high school where water filters helped hundreds of students continue to attend school after the region ran out of potable water.

“We have a group on the ground that is following up in connection with the Rotary,” she said. “We’re building a long-term relationship with that school and that community.”

Even with local follow-up, voluntourism can still contribute to the global “us and them” attitude if volunteers and organizations don’t build those kinds of lasting relationships.

Heemstra has taken water filters to South Africa several times, and Friendsmith has returned to Columbia for a pair of home-building trips.

For Berg, integrating into the community has involved creating a sustainable system in which she rotates between three villages so she can revisit the towns and reconnect with old students. In handing out her medical and dental kits she gives her pupils extra supplies so they can leave her classes and teach their peers, empowering locals to not simply depend on her.

Given the complexities and potential negative impacts of voluntourism, people could be forgiven for abandoning hope and lying on a beach somewhere, but Berg encouraged people to do their homework and find out how affected communities would benefit and be supported in the long term, particularly if a volunteer wanted to book a trip through a company.

And people could also feel some guilt for taking “an overseas experience that transforms the sojourner’s identity,” as Wearing put it. But the feeling of service and purpose that guides Berg, Heemstra and Friendsmith may be a necessary component in convincing people to spend what little vacation time they have volunteering, as long as voluntourists are aware of the ways their work could detract from communities.

“I’m finding that I get to be a part of someone else’s life,” Friendsmith said. “I can make a lasting impact and take that high home. I feel I gain as much as they do; it’s not tangible; it’s a renewed faith in humanity.”

Contact Tom Hallberg at 732-5902 or thallberg@jhnewsandguide.com.

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THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

In 2018, volunteers contributed 325

volunteer days to our Wildlife Friendlier Fencing program while improving 13.8 miles of fence and totaling 1,716 hours in the field. We also passed a major milestone; 200 miles of fence removed or improved in this program’s history.

Thank you to over 500

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole citizen scientists and volunteer project leaders!

THERE ARE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER! LEARN MORE AT WWW.JHWILDLIFE.ORG.

www.jhwildlife.org • 307.739.0968 jacksonholewildlife

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20 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Water

How to donate

Continued from 15

anywhere,” said Ken Small, a member of the local club. “You can dig up somebody who knows what you’re talking about, and it creates a trust level.”

Even with high hopes Heemstra couldn’t have expected the club’s reaction when she presented the project. Members pitched in immediately to buy more than 50 filters, allowing her a third trip on which she and a group of students, Nombulelo’s Representative Council of Learners, assembled the filters on buckets so that each classroom could have its own filter.

Rotary member Tony Paulus, an educator who has run international schools, including in Istanbul, said Rotary members jumped at the project because of Heemstra’s precise vision and because it so clearly fit the club’s six focus areas. In particular it satisfied Rotary’s commitment to prevent and treat diseases, to provide clean water and to ensure global children have access to education.

“Why this project? It’s education; it’s the health of the families,” Paulus said. “This supports all those things really well.”

The influx of filters couldn’t have come soon BRADLY J. BONER enough, Heemstra said, because the situation Julia Heemstra has been leading a humanitarian project to worsened when the municipality stopped chlo- give a South African school access to clean water. rinating the water, instantly making it undrinkable. That happened just days before she planned alesced to create the urgency that dictated the pace. to deliver the large round of filters, and the buck“I think the serendipity with this project is ets she made with the students meant Nombulelo pretty astounding,” Heemstra said. could use water delivered by Rhodes University With the filters delivered, the school and Rotafrom its wells, which ry are looking to create was not potable. Bea lasting solution, one cause the school had a that doesn’t involve way to purify the water, daily deliveries of wait could use the few water. The filters last up ter tanks it did have to to five years and can store enough water for purify 1 million gallons a day of school. of water, an amount “Had it not been for that takes a long time the filter buckets, we — Nicci Hayes to use in a region that definitely would have conserves water in Nombulelo Secondary school had to close,” Hayes ways headwater-state wrote. residents never have to Both Heemstra and Small said the speed of the think about. With that kind of longevity the next project outstripped similar humanitarian projects, stage of the project, which has been underway with Heemstra’s January delivery of filters being the past couple of weeks, is to procure storage about two months after her initial presentation. capacity.

Small said Rotary’s structure, Heemstra’s charisma While students have been on spring break Roand drive, and the nature of the developing crisis co- tary has worked furiously with its sister club in

“Had it not been for the filter buckets, we definitely would have had to close.”

The Rotary Club of Jackson Hole is raising money for more water tanks at Nombulelo Secondary School in hope of the school one day reaching a point at which it has the infrastructure to store several days’ worth of water and filter it.

The club is looking into a Rotary Global Grant, money offered by the Rotary Foundation to fund “large international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in Rotary’s areas of focus.”

The minimum budget for a global grant project is $30,000, and the foundation offers a match for funds that local clubs raise for such projects, with a minimum of $15,000 and a maximum of $200,000. Global grants require both districts — in this case Jackson and Grahamstown, South Africa — to be qualified, that is, to meet the requirements of the global grant program, which includes grant management training.

If you are interested in donating to the supper club’s push to receive a global grant, you can donate through the St. John’s Hospital Foundation, which is acting as the fiscal partner on the project. Because donations don’t go into the Hospital Foundation’s main funds, visit StJohnsHospitalFoundation.org/donor-stories.

South Africa to purchase and install new rain tanks. Hayes wrote in an email March 28 that the school will be able to buy five 10,000-liter tanks, using money the Jackson Rotary transferred to the club in South Africa with help from the St. John’s Hospital Foundation.

The tanks, which Heemstra and Rotary hope are the first wave, are a step toward making Nombulelo self-sufficient, which Small said was important because the club wants to put its money and time toward projects that it can jumpstart and complete without performing long-term maintenance.

The hope was to complete water tank installation before students return from their break, but even if it is slightly after that, making Nombulelo See Rotary on 21

Thank You to our Volunteers!

HOLE FOOD RESCUE SPRING 2019

Volunteer Team

Aaron Chaulk Abby Clark Adam Collins Alan Debs Ali Shafranek Alicia Alfaro Alyson Spery Amelia Mayer Amira Burns Amy Yatsuk Andi Gordon Andrea Weenig Andrew Reynolds Andrew Smith Andy Weenig Anna Davis Annie Fenn Arlan Kor Austin Mayer Beth Burrough Betsy Carlin Betsy Stevenson Blaine Gallivan

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Herb Brooks

Wes Gardner

Seadar Davis

Jim Hunt

Susan Mick

Thank you volunteers for making

this all possible!

Hole Food Rescue’s 110 member volunteer team prevents 25,000 pounds of food from entering the landfill each month. The volunteers re-purpose the rescued food and deliver nutritious snacks and produce boxes to local organizations. The end result of Hole Food Rescue’s work is providing assistance to over 1,000 food insecure community members in Jackson and preventing edible food from entering the waste stream.

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Thank you for your service to this community – striving to keep Jackson a great place to work and live.

VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 21

! u o Y k n Tha www.jacksonhole.younglife.org 360755

COURTESY PHOTO

Students from the Nombulelo Secondary School assemble water filtration buckets with materials provided by Julia Heemstra and the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole.

Rotary

Continued from 20

self-sufficient plays into another of Rotary’s areas of focus: facilitating peace and conflict resolution.

On the surface that connection may not seem apparent, but in a country with a legacy of apartheid, education can be an equalizer, lending added significance to keeping the school open. Nombulelo is a no-fee institution, meaning it offers education to a wide swath of children, and,

Partnerships Continued from 16

reads one of the messages.

Another message sign says: “Please stay on the trail. Short-cutting causes erosion and makes the trail crew sad.”

Nowadays, when cross-country skiers or hikers roll up to the Cache trailhead one of the first things they come across is a whiteboard on which people can jot down observations. The sightings marked down are intended to keep other users on their toes; the notes are often about ubiquitous moose and mule deer, but also rarer critters like mountain lions, wolves and bears.

“The little wildlife boards at the trailheads came from a suggestion from one of the ambassadors,” Merigliano said. “They’ve been really helpful, and people use them all the time.”

Cache’s flora and fauna, of course, aren’t limited to megafauna. Bridger-Teton retiree and author Susan Marsh, who has a guidebook about Cache Creek to her name, once tallied over 300 species of wildflowers and 54 species of shrubs and trees in the lower 2 miles of the drainage alone.

In yet another volunteer effort, the Bridger-Teton, Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, Wildflower Watch and

according to the Grocott’s Mail, Nombulelo is one of three no-fee schools in the area that has achieved a matriculation rate of above 80 percent.

“Those students are now qualified to go on and attend university,” Heemstra said. “I see that as the longer-term solution to the issue, enabling these students to move into leadership positions.

“That’s how the country will start to recover from what it’s been through.”

Contact Tom Hallberg at 732-5902 or thallberg@jhnewsandguide.com.

Friends of Pathways have teamed up to track how that assemblage of plants is changing. A new project that uses volunteer citizen-scientist observations, called “Neighbors to Nature: Cache Creek Study,” is underway. The goal is to track changes in phenology, which is the study of natural phenomenon — like flowers blooming — triggered by seasonal changes in the sun and temperature.

The Bridger-Teton’s overall vision for Cache Creek is to make it an area that the Jackson Hole community has a sustainable, daily connection to, Merigliano said. By providing a place for recreation and respite, the goal is for Cache to improve residents’ physical and mental health and understanding of nature. At the same time wildlife populations and plant communities are supposed to retain their natural integrity, according to the forest’s plans.

The many partnerships helping support and upkeep Cache “have made such a difference” toward achieving those goals, Merigliano said.

“It’s not perfect by any means,” she said, “but many people have commented on how much better it seems.”

THANK YOU TO THE LOCAL BUSINESSES AND PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS THAT VOLUNTEER TIME AND RESOURCES TO MAKE OUR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS POSSIBLE.

Barker-Ewing Whitewater Dave Hansen Whitewater & Snake River Park Jackson Hole Fly Fishing School Jackson Hole Vintage Adventures Jackson Hole Whitewater & Teton Expeditions Lewis & Clark Whitewater Mad River Boat Trips Rendezvous River Sports & Jackson Hole Kayak School

ACCESS • STEWARDSHIP • EDUCATION • PARTNERSHIPS SNAKERIVERFUND.ORG • 307 734 6773 361712

Contact Mike Koshmrl at 732-7067 or env@jhnewsandguide.com.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

Love

Horses?

Love

helping others?

Grab life by the reins and join the JHTRA family today.

We are looking for lesson volunteers to help with our upcoming season April-October.

No horse experience needed. Training is provided.

If interested please contact us at

307-733-1374 or jhtra.volunteer@gmail.com 360730

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22 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

THANK YOU TO OUR

VOLUNTEERS Eve Barnett Reid Bauer Susie Blasko Pam Bode Emily Boespflug Jeannine Brown John Buhler Jill Callaway Kaitlyn Carmical Jessica Chambers Reed Chambers Jane Chapman Robin Christensen Allen Collins Dennis Conley Leslie Cook Julie Corotis Laura W. Davenport Mariel DeLacy Chris Dickey Lauren Dickey Ellae Elinwood Cathie Evans Dick Ferguson Lucretia Finlay Caryn Flanagan Katy Fox Forest Fransen Laurie Fukawa Gwenn Gilday David Gomez Margi Griffith Sharon Gunberg Jackie Hart Keely Herron Radka Houzvickova Maddie Isler Marylou Klene Patty Krause Marlene Lang Robyn Lunsford Judith Lyons Liz Machalek Kathleen Mague Georgia Mayer Bart Monson Sue Morgan Annie Mostkoff

240 S. GLENWOOD ST., JACKSON, WY 83001

Patty McDonald Vickie Memmer Therese Metherell Richard Muzzy Dorothy Neckels Michelle Ohmart Galen Parke Michele Pickerill Patricia Poletti Jared Power Holly Pratt Karen Priebe Thelma Quasdorf Frederick Reimers Rebecca Reimers Cynthia Riedel Maegie Rooney Amy Russian Skye Schell Jill Schmidt Claudia Schrotz Michael Schrotz Carol Schwender Craig Schwender Ronna Simon Dana Smith Megan Smith Lisa Sprague Deborah Supowit Laurie Thal Beth Thebaud Dan Thomas Shirley Thomas Angela Tipton Juniper Troxel Linore Wallace Jim Walter Ashley Watson John Wiedie Nancy Wilbrecht Jeff Wilcox Kristie Wilcox Lesley Williams-Gomez John Wilson Katie Wilson Jeannie Yurgalewicz Zach Zimmerman

JHCENTERFORTHEARTS.ORG

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VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 23

Lend a hand Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area is always looking for an extra set of hands, whether they’ve swung a hammer hundreds of times or never picked one up.

Volunteers can sign up as a team or individually to logs hours at The Grove.

Shifts are available between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

More info on volunteering at the build site can be found at TetonHabitat.org/ get-involved/construction-sitevolunteer.

Building things not your skillset? Volunteers are also needed in the ReStore, serving on committees and lending a hand on Habitat’s international projects.

Contact Outreach Coordinator Elizabeth Ferguson at 734-0828 or volunteer@tetonhabitat.org for more information.

REBECCA NOBLE / NEWS&GUIDE

Future homeowner Chad Darnel, center, and Harkness, right, discuss strategies for mounting a bathroom sink. Harkness is a frontrunner in Habitat for Humanity’s Winter Warrior challenge. He made a weekly commitment to the project because “I need a day off from skiing,” he said.

Warrior Continued from 3

a group of volunteers and set to work.

“Es mejor,” he said with an encouraging grin when Nancy Sanchez brought back an uncooperative shelf for the second time.

He unclipped a measuring tape from his belt, checked the length and gave her new instructions: “Sixteen and 7/8ths.”

Sanchez moved to Jackson four years ago from the Mexican state

of Michoacan, a few hours west of Mexico City. Soon, and sooner with the help of Winter Warriors, this unit will be hers.

Matt Hare — another shoo-in for the Winter Warriors competition who Ferguson wishes she could “clone and have like five of him” — said that’s exactly what motivates him to spend his free time on arctic community service.

“These homes are going to be lifechangers for these people,” he said, “and they’re so deserving.”

VOLUNTEERS

ARE THE BACKBONE

OF CSN

They reflect the very fabric of our community. They are professionals and retirees; they are young and not as young; they are all genders.

They are us.

Sanchez returned with the shelf and slid it into place, while another pair of volunteers installed the bathroom sink. All around her the place she will one day call her own was taking shape.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

So they moved on to the next project, fitting trim around the doorways, and Harkness ran downstairs to grab the necessary tools. Just outside, a table saw buzzed in the subfreezing air.

As he climbed back up Harkness stopped midway, turned, and glanced around the unpainted room.

Underneath the cords of power tools and drywall dust and all other construction site debris it was easy to imagine it in finished form.

“There’s a real sense of accomplishment,” he said, then smiled contentedly and continued up.

A moment later the pounding of hammer on wood echoed through Sanchez’s home to be.

Contact Cody Cottier at 732-5911 or town@jhnewsandguide.com.

VOLUNTEER TRAINING LEVEL 1 Starting April 16th-May 4th.

6-8pm on Tuesdays and 3-7pm on Saturdays.

Level 1 will introduce participants to the organization and the services we provide as well as learning multiple ways to support our mission and work broadly for violence prevention. This is a 20 hour training that will be a prerequisite to Advocate Training Level II - happening later in the Spring.

Contact Karin at karin@csnjh.org or 7333711 for more information and to register.

Thank you for the work you do helping CSN to keep our community safe!

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24 - VALLEY VOLUNTEERS, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, April 10, 2019

C O M M U N I T Y F O U N D AT I O N O F J A C K S O N H O L E

VOLUNTEER. To make Old Bill’s Fun Run smooth and successful, we rely on over 350 volunteers before and during Run Day. Thank you to last year’s volunteers!

BETSY COLLINS

Please contact Annie Riddell to volunteer in 2019 at: ariddell@cfjacksonhole.org

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