Goat Wranglers are the volunteers who support the Wishing Star Foundation with the Send A Friend A Goat® fundraising event. Normally “Goat Wranglers” are the in-person volunteers who work in teams of 3 to deliver baby goats to recipients in the Tri-Cities, Spokane County, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene areas. You can also be a virtual Goat Wrangler supporter by sharing our posts and hosting a virtual fundraiser.

Goat Wrangler volunteers work in 3 person teams when helping with the Send A Friend A Goat® in-person fundraising event. The three person teams transport the baby goats (in kennels) with their personal vehicle to different businesses and locations outlined on their assigned route. One person then holds the baby goat (in a diaper) while the other two people read the Goated poem, hold the donation bucket, take photos and more! We offer a sign up link for the dates of the event and prefer signups for earlier in the week (i.e. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s).

This means that each person on the team has a “role” you might be the assigned vehicle driver. You might be the outlined photographer who will take photos and send them to Wishing Star to share for recipients to find. You might be the person who downloads the Square application on your phone to collect virtual payments during your day under the Wishing Star Account. OR, you might play multiple roles. Although 2 person teams are a possibility, 3 person teams are encouraged.

YES! We provide kennels for the baby goats to be transported inside your vehicle, and some people prefer to hold the baby goats on their laps while transporting. That said, these are baby goats with small kennels and as each team only receives one goat – it is often easy for a team to fit in a compact vehicle although SUV’s and larger vehicles make the day a bit easier.

(Reminder: Baby Goats wear disposable diapers with cloth diaper covers and travel with disposable potty pads along with other supplies.)

Sometimes! We prefer 3 person teams so that you can travel together in one vehicle with the baby goat. That makes deliveries easier as you carry the donation bucket, read the You’ve Been Goated poem, collect “pass along” aka new orders,  take photos of the experience, etc! Depending on your previous experience and comfort level we do allow some 2 person teams.

On each team you will need to outline roles for the day. This might look different if you are on a 2 person team instead of a 3 person team. Either way, you will need to outline a “Driver” aka someone who will drive the team around along with the baby goat. You will need to outline the “Donation” person, this is the person using the square app and device so we know that person is comfortable using the platform. You will need to outline the “Photographer” as the person who will send photos after EACH delivery to the Wishing Star Foundation staff. As you Goat Wrangler for the day you wear many hats, but these are your primary roles.

Goat Wranglers will meet at a location specific Headquarter on the morning of the goat deliveries. For example, we may ask you to come to our office or a partners location betweeen 7:50-8am on the day of your deliveries. During our Goat Wrangler volunteer training you will outline team roles, receive your supplies and leave with your baby goat and instructions for the day. Most teams wrap up by 3pm but some have later in the day deliveries that take them up to 4pm. All Goat Wranglers return between 2:30-4pm so that all goats can be safely returned.

Goat Wranglers will have the opportunity to spend the day in 3 person teams bringing baby goats and happiness everywhere you go. Our Goat Wrangler volunteers will also collect donations to support the Wishing Star Foundation. If happiness and community support wasn’t enough, we have some awesome T-shirts and cool swag that volunteers receive. (Oh and do not forget that Goat Wranglers can win the Goat Getter Trophy!)

We share the signup.com links on our social media platforms (such as Facebook) and post them on our Goat Wrangler  information page when the links are active (www.wishingstar.org/goats). Please keep those “save-the-dates” goating week dates in mind!!

Not exactly. We do need one person to be able to drive the team and baby goat around so we do need at least one adult. Sometimes a parent likes to involve their children, which is great! That said, we do prefer children over the age of 5 so that they can help with the deliveries as long as one adult is present.

No. We do daily morning trainings at our Goating Week Headquarter (aka the starting locations) and we send the 3 person teams off in their personal vehicle with all of the supplies needed along with the baby goat and directions for the day.

Delivery numbers depend on the day of the week, distance between deliveries and the number of deliveries for that day. A slow day could be two locations with two or more deliveries. On the other hand some of our returning volunteers could do about 10-12 locations with 12+ baby goat delivery moments. Daily assignments are reviewed in morning trainings so that concerns can be reviewed prior to send goats to the deliveries.

Yes. You will need a vehicle that could comfortably transport your 3 person team along with the baby goat and wired kennel. While an SUV (enclosed vehicle with extra space) is preferred. Some teams travel with two vehicles to make spacing concerns work.

Yes, we ask for your ID (Identification) card to verify your identity. Then for the person driving the team and baby goat we ask for them to present a valid drivers license and active vehicle insurance information.

No! We emphasize goat safety and as these are domesticated baby goats (that are often available for sale through the breeder) it is beneficial to the goat to expose them to socialization. Baby goats can range in age, but many of them are under 12 weeks old.