DOVIA Annual Awards Shines a Light on Outstanding Volunteers

SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - How do you inspire a team of volunteers not to roll their eyes when asked to do perhaps the most humble of tasks - scooping up dog waste?

With a lot of patience and a willingness to meet them where they are at, says Janice Wagaman, who was selected by the Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (DOVIA) March 8 as the agency’s 2018 Outstanding Volunteer Coordinator of the Year.  

DOVIA Sacramento is a non-profit organization providing support, workshops and trainings for professional volunteer managers at agencies across the county.

For the last five and a half years, Wagaman has served as the director of volunteers at the Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento.  Wagaman is tasked with the job of overseeing roughly 2,400 volunteers at the shelter, which range from high school students to elderly adults with retirement time on their hands - all of whom come in with various levels of passion and commitment for service and, of course, an unwavering dedication to helping animals.

“It’s a tough job, lots of passion there, and often it is very emotional,” said Wagaman.  “But I absolutely would not have any other job in the world,” said Wagaman.  “In my case, one of the biggest challenges is inspiring new volunteers who are starting out at the first level to understand the importance of some of the more menial tasks we have to get done, which is go and pick up poop.  And the other challenge is that, with so many people and so many different levels of compassion and passion for being of service at the shelter, I don’t always have the time I would like to have to get to know all of my volunteers on a personal level.”

Under her directorship, Wagaman has created a new volunteer program called “SMART (Sacramento Missing Animal Response Team) Pet Alert, which has played an instrumental role in helping to boost the number of the shelter’s lost animals who are returned to their owners from 23 percent to nearly 30 percent. 

“My volunteers are really pushing this at an amazing level,” said Wagaman, one of three volunteers nominated for the award. “They are using social media aps and programs, like Next Door and Facebook to help reconnect lost animals with their owners and it is having a huge impact.  I’m super proud of them and this program.”

In addition, the shelter’s overall “Leave Live Rate” under Wagaman’s direction is at 87 percent - that means 87 percent of the animals brought in to the shelter due to separation from their owners, abandonment or other reasons, are being rehomed each year.

“That’s a good number,” said Wagaman.  “Of course, we’d love to see 100 percent, but we are proud and always working toward the goal.”

The annual awards also include recognition for Outstanding Youth Volunteers.  Taking that award for 2018 was Janae Bonnell, 18, a senior at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills.  Bonnell has worked as a volunteer at Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento since 2016.  One of 14 young volunteers nominated for the 2018 award, she plans on a career in pre-med.  She has clocked hundreds of hours as a volunteer working in, among other places, the hospital’s pre-operation unit, post-anesthesia care unit, operating rooms and admissions department.

“Really, this is amazing, but I am very impressed with all of the other nominees who are volunteering out there like me,” said Bonnell, as she posed for photos alongside her parents and sister.  “I love working with people and of course being at Shriners gives me valuable experience that goes along with what I want to do, which is pre-med.”

Bonnell took home a scholarship for $500 as part of her award.

Included among the list of nominees for the Outstanding Youth Volunteers is Carmichael resident and El Camino High School senior, Konark Mangudkar, honored for his volunteer work at Eskaton Village Carmichael since 2016.  He is interested in a career in neuroscience and technology and has an infinity for working with seniors and in the arena of memory care.

“I get a lot out of working with the elderly, especially those with memory loss issues,” said Mangudkar.  “I know they often don’t know who I am, but sometimes they do. It’s a very rewarding place to help out.  I know I am getting more out of this than I expected at first.”

The other nominees in the Outstanding Youth Volunteers category were Ivori White, with the Sacramento Public Library, North Natomas branch; Adrian McCauley, Sacramento Public Library; Rachel Neches, Reading Partners Sacramento; Cassandra Ng, City of Sacramento Volunteer Program; Cassidy Schreiner Girl Scouts, Friends of Meals on Wheels; Jihad “Gigi” Hamid, Sacramento Public Library, Arden Dimick; Cecilia Uribe-Smith, Sacramento Public Library-Arden Dimick; Celio Gonzalez, Sacramento Public Library, Galt; Isabel Nguyen, Kaiser South Sacramento; Hadley Nevin, Fairytale Town; Isabel Gatdula, Angelique Ashby’s Youth Action Corps and Emily Chin-Ito, ACC Senior Services.

The two other nominees for Outstanding Volunteer Coordinators adult category are Jordon Powell, American River Parkway Foundation and Katie Curler, Alzheimer’s Association.