Congratulations to Meredith Chiapello, the Volunteer of the Month for December 2010.

Meredith has been volunteering with Fancy Cats for a few years. Meredith says she has never known a time in her life that she did not have a cat, or two, or three. She first adopted from Fancy Cats in 1998 and has since added five more furry friends to her household. She has been volunteering at the Chantilly adoption center as a cleaner on Sunday mornings. She is usually accompanied by her daughters, Daniele and Juliet, who are in charge of providing the kitties with plenty of TLC and lots of activity while Meredith does the dirty work. Meredith uses the opportunity as a great way to spend time with her daughters.

Becky Brierly, Chantilly adoption center manager, says, �Meredith has persevered thru being bitten by Max (one of our more aggressive cats) and has now adopted at least two kitties from FCRT. [Meredith] was also the only one to get thru last winter�s major snow storms and make it to the store to take care of our kitties.�

For the past 2 summers Meredith and her family have taken on the project of caring for a pregnant cat (and litter) that Fancy Cats finds at Prince George's Animal Shelter. Their first attempt did not go well. The momma cat, Charlotte, was a beautiful but malnourished kitten herself and her litter of 10 did not survive. Devastated, Meredith adopted Charlotte and tried again this past summer with another momma cat, Dolly, and her 5 kittens with much success! Meredith and her family are excited about devoting yet another summer to this rewarding labor of love in 2011.

Currently Meredith and her family have 3 cats; Charlotte, Sprinkles, and Calvin, as well as, 2 rats; Misty and Nibbles. Believe it or not they all get along dining and napping together. Misty has even learned to use the litter box by following Calvin around! Meredith says, �my home is a zoo and I would not have it any other way.�

Congratulations Meredith!

Congratulations to Lois McCormick, the Volunteer of the Month for November 2010.

Lois has been volunteering with Fancy Cats since July 2001. She began cleaning cages once a week and has been a superior cat care volunteer ever since, continuing to clean cages every Monday at the Fair Lakes adoption center. However, Lois doesn�t just clean cages. She spends countless hours each Monday paying special attention to each and every cat. She truly goes above and beyond what is asked of a cat care volunteer.

Members of the Leadership Team have said that Lois has expressed a continuous devotion to the Fair Lakes Center Residents that cannot be matched. Fair Lakes adoption center manager, Victoria Brown, says, �Every cleaning shift Lois spends countless hours showering each and every cat with special attention regardless the number of cats. She goes above and beyond by going out of her way to transport cats as needed not to mention �extra� errands she does to make certain the group does not get behind. Lois is a terrific member of this organization!�

Lois is extremely involved with Fancy Cats. She has served on the Board, been the Volunteer Coordinator, transports cats to and from vet visits, provides support at adoption events, she�s an adoption coordinator, and she is a foster. She currently has two long-term fosters: Bitsy and Elsa.

Lois has four cats of her own, in addition to the fosters, and three of them are Fancy Cats: Sophie, Lilly, and Gretta. She also has two dogs. Lois says, �I do so enjoy working with the cats and helping them to find new homes. Every time someone knocks on the door at the adoption center, it�s a chance to find a cat a new home.�

Congratulations Lois!

Congratulations to Tina Robertson, the Volunteer of the Month for October 2010.

Tina has been volunteering with Fancy Cats since October 2007. (Happy 3 year anniversary Tina!) She was first introduced to FCRT as an adopter when she adopted Halo (pictured). Then she began volunteering with the team. She provides her time as a cat care volunteer at the Chantilly adoption center. She cleans, feeds the kitties, and spends extra time showing the cat�s special attention.

Members of the Leadership Team have said that Tina is always willing to switch shifts and fill in when needed. Her normal shift is Tuesday evenings, but she has changed that to suit any number of requests for switching shifts with other cleaners. Becky Brierly, the Chantilly adoption center manager, has said, �[Tina] is constantly buying items needed at the center � our cleaning caddy, dustpans, brushes � and lots of toys and items the kitties just love her for.�

Tina would also love to foster cats but at the moment her Fancy Cat, Halo, likes being the main kitty of the household. Tina and her family also have two dogs, a German Shepherd/Husky named Judah and a Shih Tzu/Chihuahua named Rocky.

Tina has said, �I love coming in and being able to interact with all the cats. Some challenge me and some just crack me up. It is especially heartwarming when the shy ones finally come around and let you love them. I have learned a lot about cats from Becky and I thank her for that. Fancy Cats is a wonderful organization and I am glad to be part of it.�

Congratulations Tina!

Congratulations to Susan Spaulding, the Volunteer of the Month for September 2010.

Susan has been volunteering with Fancy Cats for many years. She volunteers her time as a very dependable foster home and is known throughout the organization as the �kitten mom.�

Members of the Leadership Team have said that Susan has terrific relationships with other foster homes, volunteers, other rescue organizations, and the local animal shelters. She continuously goes above and beyond her foster responsibilities by providing support and training, as needed, within our organization. Fair Lakes Center Manager, Victoria Brown, said, �without Susan in our group, we would not be able to save as many bottle babies each year.�

Congratulations Susan!

Congratulations to Jennifer McPherson, the Volunteer of the Month for August 2010.

Jennifer has been volunteering with Fancy Cats since October 2009. She volunteers her time as a very dependable foster home. However, she first learned of Fancy Cats about four years ago when she adopted Gabby (pictured) from the Fair Lakes adoption center. So when she decided to start volunteering she came back to FCRT. Yeah!

Members of the Leadership Team have said that Jennifer is very responsible and takes her role of foster mom very seriously. Cathy Awad says, �[Jennifer] always knows if there is a problem with one of her cats, has a great sense about people, and never misses the chance to help when she can.�

Jennifer currently has five cats and one dog of her own � Elliott, Chloe, Quincy, Gabby, and Simi, as well as a big Mastiff named Trooper. Besides the volunteer work for Fancy Cats, she works full time for the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency, and also pet sits on a part-time basis.

Congratulations Jennifer!

Congratulations to Andrea Spagnoli, the Volunteer of the Month for May 2010.

Andrea has been volunteering with Fancy Cats since August 2009. She started as a cleaner at the Fair Lakes adoption center and eventually became the Cleaning Manager, which is a much needed volunteer position.

Andrea has two kitties of her own that she calls �her boys.� Iz and Jax were adopted from the Tri-County Animal Shelter in Boca Raton, Florida. They handled the car ride to Virginia with ease and settled in quickly to their new home.

Victoria Brown, the Fair Lakes adoption center manager, has said about Andrea, �she went above and beyond by increasing her responsibility and acting as center manager for a few weeks when needed�.Andrea developed good relationships with each volunteer and developed the communication that was previously lacking�Andrea truly is Fair Lakes backbone for success!�

Andrea said, �I truly believe in the work that FCRT does for the community and I really, really appreciate all the other cleaning volunteers, because without them, I wouldn't be able to run the schedule smoothly!�

Congratulations Andrea!

Congratulations to Ronda Dalton, the Volunteer of the Month for April 2010.

Ronda has been volunteering with Fancy Cats since February 2008. She started as a cleaner at the Chantilly adoption center and eventually became a foster and soon after an adoption coordinator. She has taken in many cats as fosters and given them a great home environment until they find their forever homes. She is sometimes known as the foster that takes the �hard to adopt� kitties and we greatly appreciate her support. They eventually all find their forever homes.

Ronda has said, �I like to help with the adoption fairs. I am a firm believer that if I am fostering and take one of my kitties to a fair I should try my best to stay there and talk to any potential adopters about that kitty as I know them best. I find that potential adopters really want to hear about the kitties personalities and the little quirks and I am always someone who has cute stories about all the kitties I foster. They are all just so unique.�

Ronda has two kitties of her own that she says �own her.� If you see Ronda, you should ask her about how she came to own these kitties. It�s a pretty interesting story that begins in Germany. Her kitties are now 13+ years old and doing wonderful.

Ronda said, �Walking into that PetSmart store and meeting Becky [Brierly] changed my life. Volunteering has probably helped me more than I could ever possibly give back. Fancy Cats Rescue Team was there during a very dark time in my life. I am grateful that Fancy Cats Rescue Team allowed me to give and get love from these wonderful, adorable kitties. It brought me back into the light where I had none in my world. It gave me strength when I thought I had none to spare and it let me find my smile again. I just want to say thank you for helping me find my path and allowing me to see that I can make a difference in this world too.�

Congratulations Ronda!

Congratulations to Stephanie Gutgesell, the Volunteer of the Month for March 2010.

Stephanie has been volunteering with Fancy Cats since January 2007. She volunteers her time in many ways – cleaner at the Chantilly center, adoption coordinator, and she has been a foster.

Stephanie has three cats: Petey (a rescue from OH), Aslan, and Saturn (both adopted from FCRT; pictured). Stephanie also volunteers with Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, MD once a month.

Members of the Leadership Team have said that Stephanie has increased her knowledge of animals in general and especially cats...specializing in alerting our medical staff to problems. She is continuing her education of medical and behavior issues which is a great plus for our group and tremendous benefit for our kitties.

Stephanie with two of her cats, Saturn and Aslan.

Congratulations Stephanie!

February 2010

We are proud to announce that Stephanie Vandeveire is the Volunteer of the Month for February 2010.

Stephanie has been volunteering with Fancy Cats Rescue Team for quite some time. She helps as a foster home for many of our cats that are looking for their forever homes. Members of the Leadership Team have said that Stephanie is their idea of a very dedicated and successful foster home. They also said that she is an outstanding foster home who even when she wants to take time off will foster if it means the difference of life and death to a cat.

Congratulations Stephanie!

January 2010

Fancy Cats is proud to announce that Stephanie Hunsaker is the Volunteer of the Month for January 2010.

Stephanie has been volunteering with Fancy Cats Rescue Team since January 2009. She helps at both the Fair Lakes and Chantilly centers. She supports FCRT in a number of ways – providing cat care for the center cats, taking photos of the cats, and helping at adoption fairs.

Members of the Leadership Team have said that Stephanie is a volunteer that can be depended on and is a great role model. She has a very pleasant attitude and is a delightful team member.

Congratulations Stephanie!