Volunteer Spotlight:
Cyndie Schudel

Cyndie, right, with Keaton & Lizzie at the KC Pet Telethon

Whether hanging out at home or volunteering at the HSGKC, Cyndie Schudel spends her spare time surrounded by animals. At home are five rescued animals to love and at the HSGKC there are even more. “I love spending time with the dogs and cats,” Cyndie said when asked what she likes about volunteering. “It’s a fun place to be.”

Recruited by friend and fellow volunteer Alyssa Koinzan, Cyndie encourages others to volunteer with her. “My friends want to get together on Saturdays, but they know where I am. So I tell them to join me at the HSGKC and volunteer.” Being a volunteer isn’t anything new to Cyndie either. Having been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Cyndie has volunteered in years past for the MS Society and participates in their annual fundraiser and awareness campaign, Walk MS.

“She’s positive and doesn’t let anything get her down,” says friend Alyssa when asked about her longtime friend. “She’s a very compassionate and considerate person. The world needs more people like Cyndie.”

After Alyssa convinced Cyndie to visit the shelter and adopt Keaton, Cyndie realized the HSGKC is not a sad place to be. In fact, she came back to adopt a second dog, Lizzie, and decided to become a volunteer.

Cyndie has been volunteering since November 2008, and her reasons for spending time at the HSGKC are varied. Other than her obvious love for the animals, Cyndie appreciates the bright and cheerful aspect of the No Kill shelter as well as its open spaces available for the animals awaiting adoption. Having moved to Kansas City from the Cleveland area, Cyndie wouldn’t dream of moving again. She loves her job recruiting students for the KU School of Nursing and is grateful for her opportunity to give back to the city’s animals.

If you’ve browsed your local Hallmark store recently, you may have run across a familiar face. Her name is Shelly, an orange tabby cat that had been a long timer at the HSGKC. Recently adopted, Shelly now finds herself onto the front of a humorous Shoebox greeting card designed by Jana Brunner, HSGKC board member/volunteer and contract artist with Hallmark Cards.

Posing as a menacing threat to the unsuspecting pedestrians below, oversized Shelly gazes down from atop a nearby building…ready to pounce! “Meow are you?” is the inside greeting. Of course, we’re not surprised Hallmark Cards saw star potential in Shelly. We’ve known it all along.

The KC Star let us know they have discontinued the Pet of the Week segment that normally ran in the Wednesday FYI issue. This is very disappointing news. We have an 80% adoption rate from this exposure and often used it for “hard-to-place” shelter pets. If you are willing to write a letter to the president/publisher and the editor/vice-president (listed below) to urge them to reconsider their decision and start featuring shelter pets in the Wednesday FYI segment again – that would be greatly appreciated. This feature has changed the lives of Star readers that have adopted the pets, saved the lives of the shelter pets and promoted general goodwill for animal-loving Star readers. If you would like to see a sample letter that has been sent, contact Robin.
 
Mark Zieman, President and Publisher: email zieman@kcstar.com
Mike Fannin, Editor and Vice President: email mfannin@kcstar.com
Kansas City Star: 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108.

On Saturday, May 23 at 7:30 pm, Wizards fans and their dogs will be able to come out to the Community America Ballpark and enjoy lots of fun, dog related activities. There will even be a special costume contest before the game for the dog dressed in the best Wizards themed outfit. (The Wizards will be playing Chivas USA.)

A people/pet ticket is $30. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit local animal rescue groups, including the HSGKC. Space is limited for dogs -- buy your tickets now before they sell out. Click here to purchase your people/dog tickets today or for more info.

NBC Action News weatherman Gary Lezak will bring his best friends to Dog's Night at The Wizards.

If you'd like to come to the game without your dog, a people only ticket is $15 and your ticket purchase can still benefit us! Click here to purchase your people only tickets. Be sure to enter the Promo Code DNO2009. Our shelter will receive $5 for each ticket sold with that promo code.

Join us for Yappy Hour, 4-8 pm, Wednesday, April 29 at 810 Zone in Town Center in Leawood. A portion of food sales will benefit shelter pets at the HSGKC, Animal Haven and Wayside Waifs.

Our towels just aren’t as soft as usual since we ran out of dryer sheets. Please bring in an extra box or two of dryer sheets the next time you’re at the shelter.

For a list of other items and services we need, check out our Sit Up and Beg Wish List.

We need your help to round up a few auction items for Dog-n-Jog and the Golf Tournament. All types of auction items are appreciated and accepted. If you have items you’ve collected or want to donate from your own company, contact Jo at 913-596-1000 x 22 or send an email.

Join us for the
Pet Expo April 18 & 19. We’ll have the famous “wheel of fun” as well as pets for adoption and Alex’s toys. We need many volunteers to pull this off so email Jo ir Jana if you are interested in signing up!

This is my first time putting my thoughts on paper, but boy do I have lots of thoughts. I wouldn’t have agreed to write this article for the newsletter, but Jo asked very nicely and who can say no to Jo?

I love living here. Where else in the whole world could I bat my beautiful green eyes and get petted? I admit there are some things that I am trying to change around here, like playing Jo, Robin and Karen off each other to get an extra can of food. Hey, at my age who cares about a beautiful bod, NOT ME! Some people may not realize how well I run this office, but tell me the last time you saw a mouse in this room!

Well, my paw is getting tired and oh yeah, it’s nap time. I have been out of my bed for a full fifteen minutes. I have never had to work this hard. I hope Jo appreciates this. See you next issue!

Purrs and Kisses… B

April, Bartok, Gizmo, Hunter, Irene

Linda, Nyla, Quinn, Rita, Sadie, Sprinkles

Stuart, Susan, Taffy, Tux, Valerie & Vanessa (together!)... and several more!