Board President

Joined ARC Board - June 2005

Wayne has served on ARC's Board of Trustees the longest, with the exception of Betty Hughes, our Treasurer. A chance encounter with the shelter at an off-site adoption event led to his joining ARC as a volunteer, and then as a Board member a year or so later. Wayne has served as a Trustee, Vice President, Executive Director and, most recently, Board President.

During his time as Executive Director, he made it his mission to overhaul ARC's medical clinic and protocols (with the help of his veterinarian wife and Board Trustee, Laura), animal intake procedures, canine program, foster program and ARC's appearance in general. With the expert guidance of Board Treasurer Betty Hughes, Wayne has spent the last few years focusing on developing relationships with major donors. This has so far culminated in the remodeling of two buildings, the construction of ARC's Brighter Beginnings Adoption Center, and most recently, ARC’s phenomenal Sharon Bodenhafer Critter Clinic - a state-of-the-art medical clinic to treat ARC’s residents.

In the last 5 years or so, Wayne has traveled thousands of miles to bring back former ARC residents that have been abandoned by their former adopters. If there's a road trip involved to save one of our animals, he is usually the first to volunteer. Wayne has also coordinated most of the organization's mass intakes. These have involved hundreds of animals taken from many shelters throughout the eastern part of the country during times of national weather emergencies or cases of severe poverty.

Wayne produces all of ARC's digital video media, handles all software and video media for ARC's Starlight Auction, is the chair for ARC's Annual Casino Royale fundraiser, Co-Chair for the annual Starlight Auction, and manages the shelter's web site (with a great deal of help from a former Board member).

Outside of the shelter, Wayne works as a Product Manager for the Veterinary Systems division of medical device company, Arthrex.. In this role he contributes to the design and production of new orthopedic implants for cats, dogs and horses. He also works as a freelance photographer and videographer, and owns a scuba diving instruction company named after he and his wife’s border collie, Blue. He lives in Estero, FL with his best friend, wife and fellow Board member, Dr. Laura Braun. They "lease" space in their home from their three rescue dogs; Blue, Bunker and Dawson.

Board Vice President

Joined ARC Board – October 2015

Rob and his family discovered the Animal Refuge Center when adopting one of their cats. They were so impressed by how all the animals were being treated. The dogs were playing in their lodges and the cats happily roaming around their cottages. It was such a positive experience that they knew ARC was a special place. A short time later, his daughter was looking for place to volunteer and wanted to do something with animals. He started taking her to some events and because of her efforts, the Junior Ambassador Program was started. Rob was then was asked to host events like Casino Night and the Starlight Auction, which led to an invitation to join the board in 2015. Rob has served as a Trustee, President, and Vice President. After ten years of waking up Southwest Florida as the anchor of WINK News This Morning, he now works as the spokesman for the Lee County School District. He continues to volunteer and serve his community. His wife Angie and he, plus their three kids and four cats, hope to see you at the shelter or at one of our special events.

Co—Treasurer

Joined ARC Board – __________

Debbie moved to Florida from the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area in 2007 with her husband, Jim, and two children.  Shortly thereafter, she began volunteering on-site at ARC with her children.  They took care of chores in the cat houses, including changing linens, cleaning the floors and furniture, replacing food and water, and handling the litter boxes.  The best part, of course, was socializing with the variety of cats they encountered.  After several years of on-site work, Debbie shifted to assisting with events and has been a regular at the Starlight Auction, Purses for Pooches, Casino Night and Florida Everblades events.  Over the years, Debbie has been a staunch protector of ARC’s mascot, Lily, at many of these events.  Debbie was appointed to the Board of Trustees in February 2024.

Debbie is a local attorney, licensed in Florida and Ohio, who handles VA disability and personal injury matters.  She obtained her Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace College and her Juris Doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.  Debbie resides in Cape Coral with her husband, Jim, who is a recently retired high school honors mathematics teacher.  She enjoys reading, beach walks, and spending downtime at their home on Catawba Island on the shores of Lake Erie.  Debbie and Jim currently have one dog, Lucy, and two cats, CC and Smokey.

Co-Treasurer

Joined ARC Board – September 2017

Amy graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. She is currently employed as a Senior Accountant at NeoGenomics Laboratories in Fort Myers, Florida. Amy moved to Fort Myers in 2010 and became associated with ARC in 2014. Amy is very passionate about the no-kill movement for animals. As Co-Treasurer, Amy functions as a backup, and most likely successor, to ARC’s long-time Treasurer, Betty Hughes. She and her husband Matt are parents to their dog Toby, a rescue from Illinois, and cats Gracie and Chester, both rescues from ARC.

Executive Director

Joined ARC Board – July 2010

Peggy is an RN at Golisano’s Children’s Hospital. She works out of the Staffing Resource Center (SRC) and floats to every inpatient unit in the hospital. The majority of her time is spent with their tiniest miracles in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She’s been an RN at Golisano’s since March of 1999. Prior to that she worked in New York as an RN at the Nyack Hospital from 1984-1998.

Peggy initially found ARC because she was looking to volunteer. That was back in 2007 and it was the best decision she ever made for herself.

Peggy primarily work with ARC’s cats focusing on the special needs cats that live in the FIV and FeLV houses. She loves being at ARC- it makes her heart happy. She enjoys working with a no-kill shelter that has such a positive mission.

As Executive Director, Peggy works to manage employee disputes, and serves as a conduit between ARC’s employees and Board of Trustees.

She resides in South Fort Myers with her other half, Randy, and their 3 rescue cats from ARC – Macgregor, Maggie, and Dee.

Board Trustee

Joined ARC Board – February 2013

Christina “Chrissy” Hollis is a highly creative and multitalented artist and graphic designer. Employed by Home-Tech in Fort Myers since 2004, she designs all of the company’s printed media including advertisements, catalogs, brochures, and business cards, social media images, and vehicle wraps. She has put these same skills to work for ARC, designing many of the organization’s event graphics, along with the wrap on ARC’s public appearance vehicle. Chrissy manages to carve out time to devote to ARC while tending to the demands of a full-time job, caring for her husband and their five children, and her disabled father. Chrissy has held the position of Trustee and Secretary.

Board Trustee

Joined ARC Board – __________

Keith retired after 25 years of service as a Police Officer in New Jersey.  He had served in the United States Army Military Police Corps prior to his time with the Police Department.  He has focused his attention on the rescue and rehabilitation of abused, abandoned or neglected dogs since 2010.  Keith places an emphasis on the dogs that are often overlooked and forgotten about in the shelter system and has a special place in his heart for the bully breeds as they are traditionally harder to place and sometimes display behavioral issues due to abuse and/or neglect. 

Keith became involved with ARC in 2022 and currently serves as a volunteer mentor and is heavily involved with the dog adoptability program and the training team.  

Keith currently resides in Cape Coral with his wife Basia and their three dogs as well as a foster puppy that ARC had rescued from extreme abuse that left her paralyzed.  Moving forward Keith intends on working tirelessly in the furtherance of ARC's mission.