We've just had an election and our members elected their choice for the Board of Director position. Two positions were opened and also 2 non-board positions are being accepted
by Kim Schmalenberger and Cathy Frumento.

Meet our 1st New Addition to the Board of Directors...

Kathy

I have been officially affiliated with a rescue since 2003 when a local parrot rescue opened. Within a few short months I was asked to join their Board of Directors as an Associate member. Although my tenure was short; it was a very enlightening and excellent learning experience. I will always be proud of the fact that I helped to do something that benefited not only a species I hold dear to my heart, but the parrot community as a whole.

For roughly 20 years prior to that, I did what I consider unofficial rescue. When asked, I helped family, friends, neighbors and coworkers place their small animals, strays, and parrots by using my then network of friends and acquaintances, but I also adopted some along the way. For as long as I can remember, most of our personal pets were from shelters or strays. That still holds true to this day.

I also have extensive experience working with special needs animals. I have a medical background and that eventually translated into the veterinary world by caring for several special needs animals. My medical background is varied and long-term. I spent many years volunteering on a local ambulance, teaching Advanced First Aid and CPR, earned my EMT and then my Paramedic certifications, eventually teaching other EMTs and Paramedics skills, and finally, being an evaluator for the state EMT and EMT-M skills test.

My employment history is long and filled with positions that required me to be articulate, diplomatic, knowledgeable, do quality control, and leadership of our team when our technical assistant was unavailable. I also filled those rolls for other teams when needed which meant I had to have a broad spectrum of knowledge since each team was unique. I taught new team members their jobs, including a manager now and then who needed to know what we did, regularly interacted with higher level management from our client base, developed and wrote procedures for new and existing programs, problem-solved complex issues, and also pitched in with processing the daily workload when needed. I fully believe in being a team player, but can also work independently when warranted. I understand the necessity of being organized and meeting deadlines. I believe that I am fair in my judgments and consider all options before making any final decisions.

I am currently well-trained by 2 Umbrella Cockatoos named "Michaela" and "Lily"; a Blue Headed Pionus named "Nicky", and a Shih Tzu named "Mya". I am from Elizabethtown, PA which is not that far from Hershey. My father and brother reside with me.

This is a great honor and I want to thank you for entrusting me with this position and, therefore, the future of Wings of Hope.