Home for Life's sponsor program provides lots of subject matter for student volunteer!

Home for Life volunteer Susie Kixmoeller, a sophomore at Blake School, is an avid photographer with an interest in pursuing her interest professionally someday.

Pictured at the right are Susie and her parents meeting famous photographer William Wegman at our annual Fall Fancy Feast.

This late summer, she spent the day with us at the sanctuary photographing our animals for our sponsorship program!

Susie visited Home for Life for our Open House, and approached us about becoming more involved, using her interest in photography to help the animals at the sanctuary. Susie is a sophomore at the Blake School and rows competitively with the Minnesota Boat Club. She has won a number of photography awards including the MSAA Gold Key award. Her love of dogs and photography seem to be two repeating themes in her life. She also collects used tennis balls from tennis facilities which she then distributes to off-leash dog parks - the ultimate in recycling. What started as a small idea has now grown to the point that over 500 balls a month are collected and distributed. Lots of happy dogs. She wanted to do more than admire our animals from a distance, she wanted to get involved and help.

Because of her school schedule, regular volunteering was not an option at this time, but we thought we could recruit her to help with documenting some of our events, outreach programs and have her spend more time getting to know our dogs and cats too at Home for Life by having her help us with our sponsorship program. Home for Life loves to support young people who want to help animals, and are proactive and creative about coming up with innovative ways  to use their energy and talents to make a difference. This summer, Susie was on hand to take photos of Home for Life's inaugural year at Paws on Grand. Early this fall, Susie also accompanied Home for Life volunteers to our regular visit to  Minneapolis Tubman's domestic abuse shelter, where Home for Life's Peace Creatures program provides pet therapy to children impacted by domestic violence.

Susie was able to take a rare Friday from her studies to attend our fall gala with her parents where she met the world famous photographer, William Wegman, who was our special guest this year.

Her photos of our animals for Home for Life's sponsorship program reveal her innate gift for capturing the unique personalities of each of our dogs, cats and even our parrots. Susie is a talented photographer but more than that, she loves animals and has fun because her love for her subject matter-the animals she is striving to help- comes through. It is apparent in these portraits. The dogs and cats of Home for Life responded to her sincerity, which resulted in these beautiful photos.

Below are some of our favorites from Susie's day with us at Home for Life and you can see more of her photos here.