The 2026 PAWS Volunteer of the Year is, Stefanie Darpino!
What is the Dave Abler Volunteer of the Year Award?
Starting in 2023, and named for long-time PAWS President, volunteer, adopter, and supporter, Dave Abler, we began a process of naming a volunteer of the year. Nominations are accepted annually through the end of June. A review team, composed of 1-2 members of the PAWS Board of Directors, the PAWS Operations Team, and the Executive Director, considers all candidates and collectively selects the winner from all of the nominations submitted.
To be eligible for consideration for the Dave Abler Volunteer of the Year Award, the nominee:
- must be a current, active volunteer with PAWS
- have a significant depth of involvement with PAWS on a daily basis, and/or spearheaded an effort that was invaluable to the organization that year
- has volunteered with PAWS for 5 or more years
- exemplifies the PAWS core values of compassion, generosity, open communication, and responsible practices in their volunteer work
The Volunteer of the Year is awarded a brick in the PAWS Memorial Patio with their name and year of award, a senior dog and senior cat will have a Guardian Angel awarded in the winner’s name and they are featured on the PAWS website and in upcoming social media and email newsletters.
About Stefanie
Stefanie just this month hit her 5 year mark with PAWS and received multiple nominations from her fellow volunteers. The nominations submitted echoed an attention to her exceptional organizational skills and genuine kindness. When our committee reviewed applications this year, we all immediately brought up her positive attitude and drive to make those around her enjoy their time at PAWS.
Stefanie serves as a cat intake volunteer, where she checks in cats newly arriving to PAWS and works compassionately with their surrenderers who are often emotional or conflicted about surrendering. Stephanie is able to adeptly help these surrenderers given her naturally empathetic personality. And, in order to do the cat portion of this role, she impressively learned a new set of cat medical care skills in just the past year. Stefanie is also exceptionally creative when it comes to naming cats and kittens. If you've ever wondered - who came up with that kitten litter's naming theme? Chances are good it was Stefanie!
She assists the Operations Team by her commitment to leading the Cat Adoption Team alongside our Operations Manager. That means she is faced with all types of personalities and she, dedicated as she is, does not let that sway her from her role and commitment to a positive environment. She has helped make the PAWS cat adoption program a tremendous success – PAWS surpassed 900 cat adoptions in 2025 and are on track to adopt out at least that many this year. One of her nominators even noted that "another indicator of her dedication and commitment to PAWS is that she travels about 70 miles round trip for each visit to PAWS!"
Congratulations and thank you, Stefanie, for your help, enthusiasm, and commitment! Volunteers like you are the heart and soul of PAWS.