Rachel Kiley Trout – As you all know, our organization was threatened by a hacker breaking into one of the accounts of an admin team member. More than just a nuisance, that hacker’s ability to harm our community with the sensitive information he/she had access too. While we all worked together to find a solution that best fit our abilities, Rachel immediately stepped up and offered to take on the tedious task of going through each and every research room for the last six months and making them secure. She worked tirelessly and without complaint. When she finished that, she asked to also go back and audited all other cases for the last 3 years and locked down those rooms too, and for that Laura Olmsted says “My sincerest thanks to Rachel, for all of her hard work and dedication. You are our GEM this month. Enjoy your Sapphire.”
Cindy Billingsley Arocha added, “Rachel is not only an experienced search angel, but also a Mentor, a Case Manager, and an all-around amazing individual! In addition to being a search angel and mentor, she spends countless hours every week closing out rooms and all that goes along with that. She is dedicated, smart, funny, and kind. DNAngels is so lucky to have her!” and Kate Penney Howard said, “Rachel is the best! She’s always willing to help, and she’s smart as a whip. One of my favorite parts of being together with DNAngels in Louisville earlier this year was talking with Rachel on the way home. I’m so glad that she is my neighbor and will be having a slumber party at my house before the Fort Wayne July 22nd gathering. I love you Rachel!” I think we all can agree that without Rachel, our organization would not have weathered this incident as well. Thank you Rachel for everything you do and for being the friend you are to all of us.
Lara Schultz is new to the Administration team, but she is an experienced Search Angel. Laura recently brought Lara onto our operations team after she offered to contribute her skills of organizing files and documents. She took off running and almost single-handedly managed our Regional Meetings. She not only organized the back end of the paperwork, she also offered to help our hosts find venues and food options for each city. I think she knows someone in each area of the country Laura says, “Lara Schultz has always been a pleasure to work with. She is kind and considerate and always proactively ask “how can I help”, she has been such a shining light to DNAngels, Thank you Lara!” And Kate Penney Howard said “Lara, (whom nobody knows that I refer to as “elps” after her DNAngels initials because there are too many Lauras, Laras and Loras in my life for me to keep them straight), is a hard worker. We’ve been working together on a difficult case and she does everything she can to solve a case. Cindy Billingsly Arocha says, “Recently Lara generously volunteered to help with administrative projects. Her first assignment was to lead the organization of the Regional Meetups. She is meticulously tracking all the moving parts and also creating the host packets – and she is doing a fantastic job! I am so grateful to have her on the Executive Admin team and I look forward to working with her more in the future!” We are all amazed at just how much Lara has brought to the administrative staff in so little time! Thanks for all you do!!
Volunteer of the Month – May 2023
