School to Career - Riverhead Foundation - Volunteer Coordinator


		Sick Dolphin Care
		Seal Restraint

A large part of the strength of an organization, such as the Riverhead Foundation, is the dedicated core of volunteers involved in helping the facility do their important work. The Volunteer Coordinator is in charge of recruiting new volunteers by spreading the word about the worthwhile work that is being done and the opportunities to pitch in and help. He or she must handle the paperwork that comes with signing people up, and keep records of the numerous volunteers that are involved in the foundation's activities.

Kelly M. Cantara is the volunteer coordinator for the Riverhead Foundation. She recruits new volunteers, interviews them and determines where their strengths lie so she can help them find the tasks best suited to their abilities. She then makes schedules to include the 125 volunteers that are actively working with the foundation. It's important that she knows who is available at any given time and the skills of each person. This way she will know who to call upon when a specific task needs to get done.

Kelly's background as a biologist helps her explain the tasks to the many volunteers. She began as a volunteer and then performed internships while in high school and college. During one internship she cared for animals and in another she performed research and analyzed data. She took special classes pertaining to the field and excelled in biology, chemistry, physics and math while in school and obtained her BS in Marine Science with a concentration in biology.

Today, as a full-time staff member of the Riverhead Foundation, Kelly finds herself putting in as many as 70 hours a week. Like all of the staff members and volunteers at the Riverhead Foundation, she gets involved in many aspects of the foundation's activities including feeding and taking care of the marine mammals. In fact, she recently added the role of stranding technician to her title, which makes her the "right-hand" or the stranding program director. And as usual, everyone has to chip in and help maintain the tanks and facility.

Someone who is well organized, can handle many different jobs at one time, loves marine mammals and has patience to deal with a wide range of personalities, can do well at this tiring, yet very rewarding position.