Every month our Volunteer office sorts through piles of nominations from supervisors and honors one of our volunteers for their truly stupendous efforts. Meet our latest Volunteer of the Month.

Asking one day per week for six months of our volunteers is asking an incredible commitment and is part of the reason we allow individuals to serve in just one position at a time. With our new program, the live blue™ Service Initiative, volunteers who want to go the extra mile can sign up for flexible opportunities, or also take on a leadership role on top of their traditional position.

October’s Volunteer of the Month is a live blue™ Service Leader in addition to being a leader amongst the Marine Mammals volunteers.  Please join us in congratulating Meaghan Sorce, an incredible volunteer leader.

Meaghan Sorce

Here’s what Kim Cummings and the other Marine Mammal Trainers had to say:

I, along with the other Marine Mammal Trainers, nominate Meaghan Sorce as September’s volunteer of the month. Even though Meaghan has been with our team for under a year she has taken the volunteer position to a whole new level. Her dedication, hard work, and reliability make her the perfect volunteer. Not only does Meaghan volunteer as a full day mammals volunteer she also spends her morning diving the fur seal exhibit going that extra mile to ensure the animal’s habitat is clean. 

She never complains regardless of what she is tasked to do and always has a smile on her face. The volunteers are expected to complete specific tasks throughout the day. We rely on them for the day to run smoothly. They help with diet preparation, vitamins, exhibit maintenance, enrichment, training sessions, cleaning and educational talks. Meaghan excels at all of these tasks, especially visitor interaction. She delivers wonderful public presentations, gearing her talk towards appropriate ages present. She spends quality time with guests answering questions and giving them details about the animals.

Meaghan has an amazing attitude. She never complains and always does more than she is asked to. There is a list of extra tasks to be done if you have spare time. Every Friday Meaghan knocks at least half of those tasks off the list. She always volunteers to go out into the public area and talk during animal enrichment even if she is not assigned to. She will fill her day with tasks that truly benefit the animals, staff and guests at the aquarium.  I cannot imagine a more deserving person for this honor.

Join us in thanking Meaghan for her work with the mammals and with volunteers in the field!
Learn more about how to sign up for the live blue™ Service Initiative.

Our Volunteer Office sorts through piles of nominations from supervisors and honors one of our volunteers for each month to recognize their truly stupendous efforts. Meet our latest Volunteers of the Month!

We love our volunteers!

This month, we are announcing awardees from both October and November. One is a Marine Mammals volunteer and the other volunteers with Visitor Education. What do they have in common? Not only do they go above and beyond what is expected of them, but they also bring incredible positive energy to the Aquarium!

Here are their nominations:

October
Kim Podesta

Kim joined Marine Mammal department in July of 2012. When I first met Kim she was what I would describe as a bit on the shy side. It wasn’t long before Kim broke out her shell and became a part of what we refer to as our “Tuesday dream team.” These days, that shy girl I met in 2012 can be found teaching coworkers her oh-so-lovely jig that she loves to show off during our end-of-the-day dance parties in the kitchen. 

In addition to her enjoyable personality, she is an incredibly hard worker and always brings her best attitude to work. You can tell that she really appreciates the animals, and always goes above and beyond to make sure they have the best enrichment possible. 

Kim shows off her sea lion enrichment mobile

Kim even has gone so far as to spend her own time and money constructing a seal mobile that hangs from the ceiling for enrichment for the seals and sea lions. She spent a lot of time and energy looking into what the seals might most enjoy in this toy, mirrors, dog toys, car wash strips and even tubes to house different scents that the seals enjoy. This toy has fast become a favorite of our sea lions in particular. Enrichment is an incredibly important part of the animals’ day, and having someone on our team that values it as much as Kim is an amazing asset to our department. 

November
Greg Lamoureux

When he's not volunteering at the Aquarium, Greg makes kites!

I’d like to nominate Greg Lamoureux for volunteer of the month. Greg is always the first face I see when I come in in the morning, over an hour early for his shift, because he has to catch an early boat from Hull to be here on time. He always has a smile on his face, and is ready for whatever is put in his path. When other days are tight on volunteers, Greg is quick to come in and volunteer additional days to help out the team. He works a longer day than most of the volunteers, and never loses his enthusiasm for the Aquarium!  

Check back in January for our final Volunteer of the Month of 2013!