Candace Carlson has been named the 2018 volunteer of the year for SAFE (Save a Forgotten Equine) Horse Rescue in Redmond.

Carlson volunteers as a tack organizer for the nonprofit.

“Candace is organized, efficient, motivated, and wonderful,” according to a SAFE press release. “…She is cheerful and willing, and most important of all, undaunted by the volume of tack we get on a regular basis.”

As part of her role, Carlson sifts through all of the donated items, researches them and readies them for sale at SAFE’s tack sale events throughout the year. Since taking on this role in 2016, her efforts have garnered more than $23,000 for the rescue, the release states.

In addition, Carlson helps groom horses in advance of events, pitches in with chores and whatever else needs doing, the release states.

“Her roll-up-the-sleeves attitude translates into peace of mind for our staff, knowing that the tack situation is handled,” the release states.

Carlson noted, “I enjoy my SAFE job handling tack donations. We get amazing donations. SAFE horses get the best to meet their needs and we sell the rest or pass along to other rescues. On a few occasions, people have written the most heartfelt notes. They have lost their horse and it gives them comfort or a kind of closure that a SAFE horse will use their gear. Another case of horses rescuing humans. Every donation bag tells a story.”

SAFE is a nonprofit focused on rescuing and rehabilitating horses that have been starved, neglected or abused and provides the horses with veterinary care and training to help ensure them a safe and productive future, the release states.

Anyone interested volunteering at SAFE can contact the volunteer manager at volunteer@safehorses.org, or go online to www.safehorses.org and fill out a volunteer application. All volunteers receive training. Prior experience working with and around horses is a plus, but not a requirement.