VEWS VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH SPOTLIGHT
NOVEMBER

Please join us in celebrating Sarah Schultz, VEWS Volunteer of the Month for November!

Sarah has been part of the VEWS family since October 2025 and currently serves as shift lead for our Saturday morning shift.

Her co-lead describes Sarah as eager to learn, friendly, and someone who gets along well with everyone.

Our Volunteer Director has also noticed some special qualities in Sarah:

“Sarah is perceptive and resourceful and has a unique ability to balance the big picture with the smallest details. She thinks ahead and recognizes opportunities others might miss. She doesn’t just see how things work today—she sees how they could work better tomorrow. That combination of intelligence, insight, and innovation is a real gift.”

We’re so grateful to have Sarah as part of our barn family and excited to celebrate her!

We also asked Sarah to share a little about how she found her way to VEWS, and we loved hearing her story.

“I like to joke that I am a later-in-life horse girl. I did not grow up around horses, but I discovered my love for them during graduate school at Virginia Tech, where I volunteered with their equitation program. Like VEWS, the program relies heavily on volunteers, but it focuses on educating and training vets, with a strong emphasis on horse breeding.

During that time, I met two horses who left a lasting impression on me: Captain, a beautiful flea-bitten horse I considered my heart horse before he sadly developed cancer, and Winston, a horse known around the barn as sassy, whom I quickly befriended and came to see as simply misunderstood.

I have always been drawn to horses’ individual personalities and the challenge of understanding what makes each of them who they are. I am a sucker for a flea-bitten or Appaloosa horse, but more than anything, I love learning about a horse’s history and how their past experiences shape who they are today. I try to meet each horse where they are, rather than expecting them to fit into a particular mold.

The more I learn about horses, the more connected I feel to them, which is one of the many reasons I wanted to find a place to continue growing that connection when I moved to Richmond.

That search led me to VEWS, where I love being part of an organization that makes a tangible difference in horses’ lives. I started volunteering in October 2025 and have since become a shift leader, which has been a wonderful opportunity to grow and become more involved in a mission I care about so much.

I am grateful to work alongside volunteers who are equally passionate about our shared mission and to be part of a community where the executive leadership team helps volunteers thrive.”

We’re so glad Sarah’s journey led her to VEWS! Her curiosity about each horse’s unique personality and history, combined with her desire to keep learning and helping the organization improve, makes her a wonderful addition to our volunteer community.

Sarah, thank you for the thoughtfulness, leadership, and care you bring to VEWS and our horses!