Our Team
Susan Lapierre : Ambassadors for God’s Creatures Executive Director + Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Susan has one senior dog, Isabelle, who was found on the streets of Anderson, and Lucien, an adopted one year old pit bull from the Animal Protection League. She also has five indoor cats and five feline leukemia rescues, and three cats with chronic upper respiratory issues, who all reside in her climate controlled catio. To say that Susan has a heart for animals would be an understatement to her commitment for God’s creatures. In 2016, compelled to address the suffering of animals in the community she started volunteering and soon founded Ambassadors for God's Creatures without a second thought.
Susan is motivated by helping those in need without discrimination, animal or human. She believes that it is important to focus on the needs of pet owners and help them access the resources needed to keep their pets in their homes their entire lives. She has created an array of services under the Ambassadors umbrella.
Sherri Keck : Claims Processor + Ambassadors for God’s Creatures Chair/President
Sherri is married to a remarkable man, Mark. Together they enjoy hiking, bicycle rides, traveling, outdoor concerts, going to wine and breweries. Between the two of them, they have a total of 4 kids and 4 grandkids with another one coming in August. Sherri and Mark have 2 furry babies. Charlie, who is a 7 yr old lovable mix terrier and Miss Kitty, who is a 12 year old mitten kitten. They are BBFs!
In her spare time Sherri is learning the guitar and loves to do crafts. She chose to work with AFGC because she is amazed at the work that they do for the local and surrounding communities. She sees that the organization and all of its volunteers have a passion to help animals. Sherri is impressed by the group of people who faithfully help the AFGC mission. She is proud to be a part of an organization for real change.
Connie Harris : Board Secretary + volunteer
Connie has three grown children and four adopted children at home. She is blessed with six granddaughters, four great grandsons, one great granddaughter, and one great granddaughter on the way. She has three dogs, two inside cats, a gecko, and three outside cats. She loves living her life in kindness, knowing that she can make someone’s life a little better from the smiles on their faces and the kindness shown to them.
She has been a part of Ambassadors since the beginning in 2016. Connie loves to see the changes and growth of AFGC over the past couple of years. It is a joy for her to know that she is helping pet parents love their pets and keep them healthier by spaying and neutering them. She is overwhelmed by the blessing that has come from being a part of Ambassadors and all of the support that she has received by being a part of it.
Amy Gates : Finance Analyst at Anderson University + Ambassadors for God’s Creatures Bookkeeper
Amy has been married to Rod “Chief” Gates for 10 years. She has a family full of love including her son, Evan Baker. She has a spoiled beagle mix rescue named Lucy, a sweet cat rescue named Larry, and an ornery cat rescue named Lenny, who was adopted from an Ambassadors adoption event held at a local Tractor Supply.
Amy has a heart for her whole family, obviously including pets! One year Amy’s son bought their cat, Lenny, a bowtie for Halloween. Lenny likes it so much that he thinks he has to wear one all of the time. It has become a tradition to buy him a new bowtie for each holiday season.
Amy began as a volunteer for Ambassadors nearly two years ago and has stayed because she believes in the mission.
Linda has lived in Elwood most of her life and is married to her husband, Dan, for 45 years. Dan and Linda have 2 rescued Golden Retrievers, Merre Mayhem and Dayzee Darling. They also have a rescued kitty named Ollie.
Linda served for many years on the Elwood City Council and Elwood Chamber of Commerce. Linda currently enjoys working part-time at Keys Kanine Kountry Klub.
Linda Moore: Board of Directors
Sharon started as a volunteer with Ambassadors in August of 2022 and she was made an official member of the team as a store associate shortly thereafter. Over the past two years Sharon has learned all aspects of Ambassadors services and programs, and currently works as the lead at our vaccine clinic, the store and our pet food pantry. She is committed to our mission, has great love and compassion for the animals and is a vital asset to our team. Sharon has one cat, Max, who is spoiled and the love of her life. Sharon also has two adult sons who are married and she adores her family.
Sharon Ward: Ambassadors Lead
Ashley Mann: Spay/Neuter and Donations Coordinator
Dawn
Megan began as a volunteer shortly after Ambassador's opened. Megan supports social media, the website, data entry and various other digital needs.
Megan has always been an animal lover and has many cats, dogs, gerbils, chickens and Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Megan is also a cat foster for the Animal Protection League in Anderson.
Megan Ewing: IT Specialist
Tim currently has lived in Anderson for approximately 5 years. He has 4 grown children that all live on their own. Tim is the owner of Tim’s Training Academy and has been a professional dog trainer for over 20 years and has trained behavioral modifications with shelter dogs for over 15 years. He works with private clients, shelters and rescues to help resolve behaviors that could lead to dogs being surrendered into shelters as well as helping to improve the chances of dogs getting adopted or staying in a home they are already living in. Tim hopes to bring his training and educational skills to Ambassadors for God’s Creatures to provide awareness to the community that there are solutions to behavioral issues and that they are affordable. Tim joined Ambassadors for Gods Creatures because of their vision to help address the issues of pet overpopulation. There is not just a single solution to the problem, and it takes more than just a single organization to begin addressing the problem. I like that Ambassadors for Gods Creatures forms alliances and partnerships with many other organizations and believes it is a community wide problem and solution. Meeting the communities needs for their pets in a multitude of programs and assistance, Ambassadors for Gods Creatures can have real tangible impact on the problem. Tim is a driver for our Midwest-Northeast transport rescue initiative, transporting cats to our partner rescue in southern Maine, and has helped save the lives of many animals, who might have otherwise died in the local shelters.
Tim Hartsock: Board Chair
Jutta Vogelbacher has a passion for wanting to help improve the lives of our fellow beings. Jutta and her husband have 4 cats and 2 horses, recently losing their beloved Thoroughbred, Buck Easter weekend. It was one of the hardest days in Jutta’s life. He was her teacher and best friend beyond being part of her family. All of her animals have been adopted from certain situations and Jutta feels blessed to be able to become guardians, becoming part of her little family. She sees herself as a guardian and says it is her privilege to be with the animals and try to do the best for them every day. Jutta’s background is in anthropology and education. She currently teaches German at Ball State University and while she enjoys her job, her passion is animals and particularly in helping to improve their lives. She felt grateful to be asked to serve on the board of Ambassadors of God’s Creatures. Jutta says, “So many lives have been touched by this organization and many more will be because of their ambition to keep pets in their homes and out of the shelter system. It is tremendously important for families who love their pets to have access to affordable food and medical services for their furry family members.” Jutta hopes to be of assistance specifically in terms of recruiting more volunteers and in fostering a climate of collaboration as well as forming a better and deeper understanding of root causes of the issues in animal welfare.
Jutta Vogelbacher
Kelley is blessed to have one amazing daughter and three beautiful granddaughters. She has a retired 2-legged Therapy Dog named Sonny and Berkley is her sidekick and adventure loving pit bull. She has 5 indoor cats and fosters dogs and cats when possible. She owns and operates sit-stay-play In-home pet sitting & more and also Muncie Pet Grooming. Kelley believes it’s important to use her time and talents to help others and has various avenues where she can fulfill that calling. In her free time, Kelley loves to travel, work in her garden when it’s warm, Salsa dance when it’s cold and most recently she began learning watercolor painting and playing the piano.
She enjoys working with animal-loving people that want to make a difference and help others and believes that AFGC is doing just that. They do a wonderful job connecting with pet parents in the community and their collaborations with the Animal Protection League and Best Friends is creating a last impact with the spay/neuter services and kitten diversion program. She’s proud to be on the Board and help AFGC fulfill their mission.
Kelley Stewart
Growing up living next to her Grandparents farm, Anita has had a love for all animals, from baby rabbits to cattle, and especially every stray dog and cat within miles. After 37 years of working in finance & HR, Anita decided in 2014 to follow her passion and love of animals. Anita is now the proud owner of Key’s Kanine Kountry Klub a daycare, boarding and grooming facility. Anita has two adult children, Christopher and Holly. She also opened her heart and home to 10 rescue fur babies.
When she’s not spending time with her family and friends, Anita enjoys traveling, craft shows, hiking, biking, and relaxing with her fur babies. She is also an active member of The Elks and Eagles of Alexandria while also supporting several Animal and Cancer Events in her surrounding area.
Anita joined Ambassadors because their mission started with a small group of people who want to love and care for all animals. These people joined together to give back to a much needed community with a brighter future for all animals and pet owners. Anita wanted to contribute to help all the animals in need have a better future.
Anita Keys
Dennis Smith
Gary Reagan
John Shockley
Kathy Cates