Aly Haynes-Traver

Aly Haynes-Traver is an eighth grade student at Hampton Roads Academy who lives in Williamsburg.  Aly lives a very active lifestyle with her school work, playing on the basketball team, and caring for her many adopted dogs, taking care of her own horse, being the #1 fan of the Women’s Tribe Basketball team, and last but not least, spending several hours each week as a Dream Catchers volunteer.

Aly first came to Dream Catchers during the spring of 2007 as her Girl Scout troop committed to weekly service projects one afternoon after school.  She scrubbed water troughs, mucked pastures, cleaned tack, swept floors, knocked down cobwebs in the barn, and pulled weeds for six weeks.  The troop also got to assist in the training of one of the new therapy horses that spring, where they tossed balls, made loud noises, clashed cymbals, beat on drums, and dropped rings on poles over and over again to get the horse used to the therapeutic environment and to help “bombproof” the horse.  Aly had such a great time with these projects with her troop that she returned during that summer to be a part of the first-ever Junior Volunteer Program at Dream Catchers.  The Jr. Volunteers did many of the same types of projects that the Girl Scouts had done, and Aly was hooked.

From that time on, Aly has been a regular face around the barn.  She is always here on Saturdays, and usually comes out to help one or two afternoons during the week as well.  She has learned to be an excellent horse leader and sidewalker (she is very tall, which is a plus!) and can do any job in the barn.  Since she began as a Jr. Volunteer, she has had a passion for helping out younger volunteers and has served as a Counselor for the Jr. Volunteer camps that were held last summer and over Christmas break.  When we counted her hours to turn in to the Junior National Honor Society at school, we were not surprised to find that Aly had worked over 300 hours in the past six months at Dream Catchers!

Due to her commitment, her maturity, and her desire to help out in any capacity, she was named the 2007-2008 Junior Volunteer of the Year.  In addition, she was recently awarded “Advanced Volunteer” status due to her many hours of service here and her ability to do any task with any horse and any students at the barn.

Aly is a great role model for our younger students and Jr. Volunteers, and a valuable asset to our program.  We are fortunate to have volunteers like Aly to truly make a difference in the lives of our students and to make what we do each day a safe and rewarding experience for all at Dream Catchers.