Volunteer Spotlight
Brandy Russell

Over Brandy Russell has been a volunteer with Wolf since May 2002. When Brandy started as a new volunteer she did the usual new volunteer things; poop scooping, meat, watering and feeding the animals. Because she was dedicated to spending most of her free time at Wolf, Brandy advanced quickly through the level system of training and soon achieved a level 4.

Brandy developed a great relationship with not only the animals but with Staff and other Volunteers. When Gail, our previous Volunteer Coordinator, could no longer continue, due to personal commitments, Brandy was a natural choice for the position. Brandy took over the position with enthusiasm.

Since taking on the responsibility, she has helped rewrite the volunteer level testing procedures, designed new tests for the animal CPR and First Aid Classes and trains most of the new volunteers. While doing this she still finds time to help with daily chores. She also works most of the outside educational and tabling events taking care of the merchandise inventory both physically along with all the inventory records.

Brandy’s hard work and commitment to Wolf have made her invaluable, both to the facility and the founders. One of her accomplishments has been to organize and commence the quarterly volunteer meetings. At these meetings Brandy makes sure the volunteers are able to learn the Canine CPR and First Aid procedures necessary for advancement. In addition, she has arranged for speakers to keep us all updated on the Wolf Management Plan currently undertaken by the Division of Wildlife.

During the preparations for the recent Waltz for the Wolves fundraiser, Brandy went above and beyond the call to help organize the event. Her garage was sacrificed to the Sanctuary as a storage unit, meetings were held at her home, she made phone calls, matted and framed artwork, worked on invitations, ran errands and procured numerous items for the auction. During the event itself, Brandy was a human dynamo -- she was everywhere! At times we thought she might actually be twins or triplets. Without her great people and organizational skills the event would not have run as smoothly as it did and Pat would have been dragged off to the funny farm.

Wolf is very thankful and appreciative for all the hard work and effort Brandy has done; both as a volunteer and as the volunteer coordinator. She continues to be a valuable asset, as well as a friend to the animals, the facility, Pat, and Frank.

Despite holding a full-time position at the CDC in Fort Collins, she still makes time to not only fulfill her position at Wolf, but improve upon it. Wolf is very thankful for the effort she has put into being a volunteer and the volunteer coordinator.

Thank you Brandy.

Donor Recognition
(Awards & Sincere Appreciation)

Every year we try to recognize a few of our terrific supporters with the ‘Spirit of Wolf’ award. Although we cannot afford to recognize everyone who truly deserves the award, we do try to rotate it some every year. We also publish a listing of those supporters who have been significant to the accomplishment of our mission.

This year we also are recognizing some of our supporters with a tenth anniversary award -- the ‘Nanook Pack Elder’ award. Without the support of these folks we may never have made it ten years.

1995 - 2005
Nanook - Pack Elder Awards

Cheryl & Siggi Babcock
Gail Daugherty
Roland Dixon
Priscilla Dressen, DVM
Journey Books
King Soopers
Lorraine May
James Mittl
Z.G. Standing Bear
WalMart Distribution Center

2004 Spirit of Wolf Awards

Laura Seeley
Bohemian Foundation
Dorothy Donnelly Moller
AIM House
Mary Eaton
Sharon Sharp
Donna Nayduch
2004 Sanctuary Sponsors
Seeley Foundation
Babcock, Cheryl/Siggy
Iverson, Sara Anne/Bruce
La Porte Feed & Grain
WalMart Distribution Center
King Soopers
Jim Mittl
Steve Shaffer

2004 Pack Sponsor Level

2004 Save Sponsor Level

2004 Fed Sponsor Level

2004 Sponsor Level

Aerial Hunting of Wolves Continues
Alaska

Experts Slam Plans To Kill Wolves, Bears

Protest: State's predator control approach called "recipe for disaster."

By JOEL GAY - Anchorage Daily News
(Published: January 7, 2005)

More than 100 wildlife professionals have slammed state efforts to produce more moose and caribou by killing wolves and bears, saying the new predator control programs ignore the best advice developed by the National Research Council…

(Read the rest of this article and sign a petition on the Alaska Wildlife Alliance web site at:
http://pressroom.akwildlife.org/objects/view.acs?object_id=5248)

Wolf Advocates Take Alaska Boycott Drive to the Internet

Friends of Animals introduces the first Virtual Howl-In. The Virtual Howl-In will complement Friends of Animals community-based Howl-Ins and enable wolf supporters to enter their names and addresses into an online form on the Friends of Animals website. Friends of Animals will then mail a physical postcard to Alaska’s Gov. Frank Murkowski on behalf of each signatory…

(Find out more about Friends of Animals and The Virtual Howl-Ins at: http://www.friendsofanimals.org/howl-in/)

Wolves In Alaska: Overview

Latest News - February 2005

More than 100 wolves have been killed so far this season, including a pack of wolves that had been studied for decades. The Board of Game meets in March to consider a number of additional proposals calling for the expansion of wolf and bear killing…

(Read more from Defenders of Wildlife and sign a petition at: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/wolf/alaska.html)

The Perfect Gifts

Recently, a friend of Pat and Frank, who is a wholesale representative for retail merchandise, came to Wolf with a terrific marketing idea. One of the firms she represents sells sets of beautiful flags, hand painted on rayon fabric in vibrant colors. One of our volunteers, Jennifer Campbell, stepped up to the plate and created 7 amazing designs for Wolf.

Each flag design represents wolves at the sanctuary and is 13” by 15”. The designs are hand-batiked and attached together on a cord in the Tibetan prayer flag style.

Each set is only $40.00
Anyone interested in purchasing the flags (each flag is 13” x 15”, there are seven to a string) can contact Pat @ 970-416-9531.

A portion of the proceeds from sales nationwide goes to Wolf. If you know of anyone who would be interested in selling the flags at their place of business, they can contact Annette of Earth Echoes @ 1-800-547-6984.


Wolf - A Sanctuary
Free Video

Wolf recently compiled three video segments into a single DVD & VHS. We are using this approach to provide potential supporters with a more thorough understanding of our mission.

The segments include a
    5.5 minute overview of Wolf taped at the sanctuary,
    8.5 minute pilot that was made about Wolf for
         Animal Planet and a
    43 minute copy of the Texas Rescue (featuring
         Wolf), from 2003, that aired on an Animal
         Planet episode of the “Jeff Corwin Experience”.

If you have never been to the sanctuary or have trouble explaining Wolf to your friends, we would be happy to send you a copy. If you can afford to send a donation in the amount of $6.50 to cover the production cost and shipping, we would appreciate it -- if not don’t worry about it. We are more concerned about making sure that everyone who wants to spread the message has the tools to do it with.

Please specify VHS or DVD.

This can be ordered by calling Pat at 970-416-9531.