Shoveling manure and hay is not your average volunteer work. But for Nine Esko High School National Honor Society students, it was worth it.
"It's a lot more physical, but I like it," said Julianne Carley, a member of the Esko High School National Honor Society.
The group of students voluntarily chose to shovel manure and hay, clean up debris, weed and mow more than one-half acre of land for the Helping Hands Helping Horses project during the annual United Way Day of Caring on Wednesday.
The work was done at North Country RIDE in Esko, an organization that has been providing horse-facilitated activities to a variety of children and adults with varying special needs for the past 25 years.
Executive Director, Cherie LeTourneau, said 90 percent to 95 percent of work at North Country RIDE is done by volunteers.
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"We couldn't run our program without our volunteers," LeTourneau said. "Our volunteers help reduce our costs so we can pass those reductions on to our riders who live on a fixed income or can't afford to pay what it costs to take horse-back riding lessons at this caliber."
Karly Bergstedt, president of the Esko High School National Honor Society, said: "We really like what they do here with helping the disabled; it's such a great organization. We're just so happy to help people who help other people."
Tim Garay, also part of Esko High School group, added: "There are a lot of people that volunteer here, maybe not every day but a lot. It's nice to help them out so they can relax,"
This was the second year the Esko National Honor Society participated in the Day of Caring. Last year, they went to Goodwill in Superior. Bergstedt hopes their involvement in the Day of Caring will continue.
"The community is helping everyone, and it's a great way to get involved," Bergstedt said. "You can share your talents with organizations that are sharing their own talents; it's kind of like a big chain of sharing."
