Each week on On a Mission, our host Penny Kievet talks to people who are helping the community around them in Jacksonville. This week, Penny talks to Rick Ducharme from First Coast No More Homeless Pets.
I founded FCNMHP in 2001 and incorporated a year later. Each year we help more than 90,000 dogs and cats and the people that love them. FCNMHP employs around 125 full time team members including 21 veterinarians to provide 20,000+ spay/neuter surgeries each year as well as see around 200 clients each day, 7 days a week in our low cost veterinary hospitals. In addition to being the largest nonprofit animal hospital in the SE we act as a safety net hospital for pets and their owners in our community to ensure that no pet dies due to economic euthanasia.
Penny Kievet is no stranger to the non-profit world having spent her entire professional career as a teacher, principal, college professor, trainer and executive with the American Management Association and now the Executive Director at City Rescue Mission. Prior to her move to Florida Penny lived and worked in Heidelberg, GR, Kansas City, MO, West Des Moines, IA and New York, NY, Kievet has served on 26 for-profit and non-profit boards as director and Board Chair and has also held local, state and national offices in numerous professional organizations and currently serves on the board of Feeding Northeast Florida, Safe To Hope, Inc. and the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions national board. Some of her recent awards include: Girls Inc. Woman of Vision, The Jacksonville Business Journal Woman of Influence Award, 2000 Most Notable Women in the United States, Who’s Who VIP Professional, National President of Pi Kappa Delta, 100 Top Female Executives in the Southeast , National President Cross Examination Debate Association, Outstanding Women in the Mid-west, Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals and numerous sales achievement awards.
