TEP employee volunteers and their family members spent Sunday morning sanding and refurbishing the weather-worn horse stalls at the Therapeutic Ranch for Animals and Kids (TRAK) before summer camp begins.

TEP provided the sanders, paintbrushes, rollers and water sealer along with more than a dozen volunteers to help with the project.

The ranch offers children with and without special needs therapeutic interactions with horses and other ranch animals. The ranch also offers summer camps, horseback riding lessons, animal care and vet tech training and animal education programs.

TEP employee Catherine Schladweiler, who coordinated the company’s Community Action Team (CAT) of volunteers, and her family have been involved with TRAK for many years.

“My children started going to TRAK’s camps years ago and they love it,” she said. “We’ve also volunteered there as a family for many years. We are always looking for volunteer activities that we can do together as a family.”

In fact, Schladweiler’s daughters, Lila and Ellen, contributed so many volunteer hours for TRAK that, in 2016, they were named by TEP as PowerCAT Kids of the Year in recognition of their volunteerism.

“TRAK is a remarkable place because it gives children and people a sense of purpose and place,” Schladweiler said. “Children can just be themselves, and the animals respond.”