Today we lost one of our own. Mike was a behind the scenes kind of guy. His quiet support of his DRSF board member wife and all things DRSF will be terribly missed. Mike was instrumental in creating our website, keeping track of paperwork and being sure that the website was updated and correct. He was our IT guy who helped a bunch of (mostly) tech challenged volunteers keep up on the latest changes to our system, but he also fixed things when we messed it up (which was more often than any of us would like to admit).
Mike not only made sure the papers data was correct, he also was a loving foster to too many dogs to count. He loved every dog that came through their home like they were his own…. and he often made them his own. A higher percentage of the fosters that went to their house became foster fails than moved on to other homes. The love and care he gave to the motley crew that were lucky enough to become a permanent member of the family was unlike anything their dogs had ever experienced.
Mike also helped us with events and was particularly a big part of the weenie races that are held at each of our events. He kept things organized and helped Joanna with whatever she needed. Even after he became ill, he showed up to the events to help in any way he could, even if that was just moral support.
One of the quiet things that Mike did was check in on President Pam. When rescue things were especially stressful and crazy, he always made sure to ask if she was okay. He would say, “Are you sure this isn’t too much for you?” “Maybe you should take a break?”. She doesn’t think he knew how much she appreciates those quiet questions. He supported the rescue completely and knew the toll that it took on her, his kindness will be tremendously missed.
Mike was always concerned about the financial side of DRSF and wanted us to be in a place where we had the resources to help the next dog that needed us. Many of his friends and family have already asked where donations could be made and he and his wife, Mona, wanted DRSF to benefit from any donations in his name.
Our hearts are broken at the loss of one of the DRSF family and a champion of rescue.
We are creating this link to make it easier for those that loved him and will miss him, and those who don’t know him but would like to honor him, to donate in his name. He would have liked nothing better than to have his life and death help get DRSF ready to help the next little dog that comes our way.
The platform that we use to create this fundraiser requires that we put a dollar amount in order to post it. That in no way reflects what we are asking for, we have to add it to be able to create the link.
Thank you, Mike, for all you contributed to DRSF. Your contributions and love for the long and lows will live on in the memories of you. Rest easy. We have it from here.
