United States Eventing Association

The First Silver Medal is Earned in the USEA Volunteer Medal Program

Launched in 2020, the USEA Volunteer Medal Program recognizes the volunteers who consistently volunteer year after year. Hours earned are cumulative over a lifetime of volunteer service. To earn a bronze medal, volunteers must record 500 volunteer hours; to earn a silver medal, volunteers must record 1,000 volunteer hours; and to earn a gold medal, volunteers must record 2,000 volunteer hours eventingvolunteers.com.

Diane Bird recently clocked in her 1,000^th volunteer hour at Stable View Spring H.T., making her the first volunteer to earn a silver medal in the USEA Volunteer Medal Program. Since Dec. 1, 2016, Bird has recorded 1,009 volunteer hours and 19 minutes and is the leading volunteer featured on the Volunteer Medal Program leaderboard.

Bird has recorded over 100 volunteer hours every year since 2017. She was the 2019 USEA Volunteer of the Year presented by Sunsprite Warmbloods, and in the last three years, she has always been ranked in the top five on the National Volunteer leaderboard. Get to know more about Diane Bird by clicking here.

Diane Bird’s path to a silver medal:

• 2021: 161 hours and 58 minutes
• 2020: 222 hours and 43 minutes
• 2019: 307 hours and 31 minutes
• 2018: 213 hours and 40 minutes
• 2017: 103 hours and 27 minutes

Seven volunteers earned their bronze medal in 2020, and this year, five more volunteers have joined the group of bronze medal volunteers. These newly minted bronze medal volunteers include John Bandrofchak, David Slagle, Dick Owen, James B Newman, and Joan Harper, who have recorded over 500 volunteer hours.

**These volunteers will be receiving their bronze medal and silver medal awards at the end of the year.

The USEA would like to thank all eventing volunteers for their tireless efforts.

About the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport, the unsung heroes, and the people who make it possible to keep the sport alive. In efforts to recognize the dedication, commitment, and hard work that volunteers put into eventing, USEA formed the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) in 2015. In 2017, an online management portal was designed for volunteers, organizers, and volunteer coordinators at EventingVolunteers.com (available as an app for iOS and Android).

Volunteer incentives include national and area recognition, year-end awards with ribbons, cash prizes, and trophies, a top ten USEA Volunteer leaderboard, and a Volunteer of the Year award, which is given to the volunteer who tops the leaderboard by accumulating the most volunteer hours over the USEA competition year. Click here to learn more about the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program.

The USEA would like to thank Sunsprite Warmbloods for sponsoring the Volunteer Incentive Program.