2019 – Nancy Hitzeman
2018 – Leann Rupy
2015 – Roger Brown
2014 – Cindy Willoughby
2013 – John Bierrie
2011 – Anne Edwards
2009 – Janet Miller
2008 – Cindy Willoughby
HUMANITARIAN AWARD
The recipient of the Humanitarian award should be someone in the Midwest Region who goes above and beyond for the region, and/or CFA, for their breed or cats in general. Their contributions can be in veterinary medicine, research, legal arena, rescue, breed rescue, or someone who represents or promotes CFA and/or the region in a very positive light. This is NOT an annual award but rather a way to recognize a person that we can all benefit from knowing.
Humanitarian Award Winners
One of the little known programs of CFA is the Breeder Assistance and Breed Rescue Program. This program helps breeders and catteries in times of need beyond their control. “Confidential” is a key word to this program, and part of the reason it is not better known.
The Breeder Assistance program was developed in the Midwest Region and has now been combined with the Breed Rescue Program, a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization that serves breeders and their cats throughout the country. Assistance may include advice, physical help, placement or foster care. Another important element is providing food and supplies for a period of time. This part of the program is referred to as the Food Pantry.
In 2016, the positions of Food Pantry Chair and Breeders Assistance Chair were separated. Nancy Hitzeman accepted the Food Pantry Chair duties and has served in that capacity since that time. She efficiently works with Regional Coordinators, the Breeders Assistance Chair, and the breeders in need to provide the necessary food and supplies. She does this behind the scenes and unless you have needed help, you are likely unaware of the work she does.
Thanks, Nancy, for the work you do and the help you provide.
2019 – NANCY HITZEMAN
This nominee is being recognized for their work in stepping up and helping to place cats in homes when there was a death in the home. She worked diligently to find breeding programs where the cats and kittens could be placed to preserve genetic lines, going as far as making several trips outside the US to place cats in Europe.
Now aside from that, she serves as a mentor, on-call medical advisor, genetic and pedigree counselor and has single-handedly gotten at least five new exhibitors at Midwest Region shows.
The Humanitarian Award goes to Leann Rupy.
2018 – LEANN RUPY
Midwest Region Humanitarian Award – 2014
The humanitarian award is not an annual award . The recipient of the Humanitarian award should be someone in the Midwest Region who goes above and beyond for the region, and/or CFA, for their breed or cats in general. Their contributions can be in veterinary medicine, research, legal arena, rescue, breed rescue, or someone who represents or promotes CFA and/or the region in a very positive light. This is NOT an annual award but rather a way to recognize a person that we can all benefit from knowing.
It takes a special kind of person to reach out to help a cat or any animal in need over and over again. This person has been responsible for saving the lives of countless cats and kittens in area shelters and bringing attention to homeless cats by exhibiting them in numerous shows to heighten public awareness and find homes for the homeless.
It is this fine work that goes above and beyond and not only helps CFA – it helps Cats everywhere. Please join me with a standing ovation for Cindy Willoughby
2014 - CINDY WILLOUGHBY
Midwest Region Humanitarian Award – 2013
Terry Bierrie accepts the Humanitarian Award presented to her husband John for his tireless work benefitting felines and the cat fancy.
The humanitarian award is not an annual. The recipient of the Humanitarian award should be someone in the Midwest Region who goes above and beyond for the region, and/or CFA, for their breed or cats in general. Their contributions can be in veterinary medicine, research, legal arena, rescue, breed rescue, or someone who represents or promotes CFA and/or the region in a very positive light. This is NOT an annual award but rather a way to recognize a person that we can all benefit from knowing. The 2013 humanitarian award recipient demonstrated those traits and much, much more. This year’s winner contributions were not limited to CFA’s Midwest Region. This year’s winner’s contributions touched all of CFA and felines across the country and influenced improved feline welfare across the world. This recipient did much of his good work behind the scenes. So much of this work we may never know. But that was just his way.
That was just his way.
The humanitarian award is given for broad efforts that benefit our felines and our feline communities. The Breeders assistance program and the Food Pantry are certainly such programs. Breeder assistant program was developed to assist owners of catteries who find themselves in difficult situations. As the program was being developed in the Midwest it was discovered that, occasionally, breeders might need help feeding their cats. To fulfill this need, donations of cat food were requested at cat shows — and the Food Pantry program was a result. This year’s recipient was the core of both programs making a difference in the lives of many cats in need. This recipients outreach efforts with the breeder assistant program has touched the lives of breeders and their cats and kittens across the country. Through breeders assist, as Chair, and the food pantry he had a hand in securing an unprecedented contribution from Royal Canin which will benefit cats in need for a very long time. This award winner recently decided to run for a CFA Board position. We can only imagine how significant his contributions would have been.
Our recipient could always be counted on to lend a hand to one in need, a smile or pat on the back to congratulate a fellow exhibitor, good council in difficult situations. One of my favorite conversations with this individual was a few months after the election. I was bemoaning something or other and he said, “Ma’am, just remember. “You” asked for this!”
That was just his way.
This year’s Humanitarian Award winner was:
• The Midwest Financial Committee – Chairperson
• He served two years as the Breeder Assistance Program – Chairperson
• Six years as the Breeder Assistance Program – Food Pantry
• Four years as Club Secretary – American Gothic Cat Club
• Two years as Club Vice-President – Lucky Tom Cat Club
• Show Manager/Co-Show Manager of two Regional shows
• Show Manager / Co-Show Manager of four American Gothic Shows and two Lucky Tom shows
• Doubling year to year spectator attendance, 3 out of 4 years with American Gothic
• Granded several Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest Cats (of his catteries own breeding)
• Breed Council Member – Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest Cats showing cats under B Street Cattery
• Norwegian Forest Cat – Regional Award
• He was the Human behind George Mittenpaws
• The Imagination behind Reggie and Regina bank
• Personally, my right hand
• And, Terry’s beloved husband
The humanitarian award recognizes someone who we all benefitted from knowing.
Tonight, we recognize John Bierrie.
2013 – JOHN BIERRIE
This nominee is being recognized for their work in stepping up and helping to place cats in homes when there was a death in the home. She worked diligently to find breeding programs where the cats and kittens could be placed to preserve genetic lines, going as far as making several trips outside the US to place cats in Europe.
Now aside from that, she serves as a mentor, on-call medical advisor, genetic and pedigree counselor and has single-handedly gotten at least five new exhibitors at Midwest Region shows.
The Humanitarian Award goes to Leann Rupy.
2015 – ROGER BROWN
Midwest Region Humanitarian Award – 2011
The Midwest Region has chosen an individual to receive the Humanitarian Award in 2011. Although past awards have honored exhibitors for rescue, we have other categories for individuals to act in a way that honors and assists cats, much in the model of the CFA Medal of Honor. This year, we are honoring a long-time breeder and exhibitor who has been involved recently in a remarkable legislative effort, along with her decades of service in assisting us in protecting our hobby. Without people to stand against bad legislation, our hobby would be a thing of the past. While we all support sensible rules against animal cruelty, we do not agree with the assumption that all breeders are substandard.
As a founding member of MoFed, one of the most recognized and successful agricultural lobbying bodies anywhere in the US, Anne Edwards has served the cat fancy for years. Her guidance has not only made us all aware of campaigns against breeding but also helped to gain great standing and respect in the Missouri legislature, in order to have a position against animal rights groups that lobby more traditionally with large spending.
MoFed instead, with Anne as Vice President, is listened to and given great deference in one of the most agriculturally dependent states in the US. Their relationship with their legislature has accomplished what may be a first in the nation. Last year, they led the charge to vacate a poorly-considered proposition that was put on the ballot and approved by a small majority of voters, that could have ended all breeding in Missouri. They were able to work with the lawmakers to instead craft replacement legislation, that demonstrates their commitment against animal cruelty, but also to protect the hobby breeders who treat their animals well and provides funding within the law to help investigate and end animal cruelty. This sets a remarkable precedent in both Missouri and other states and can serve as an example of how we can overcome bad law in creative new ways. For her remarkable service in this effort, as well as her many, many years in protecting hobby breeders against unnecessary and badly written law, we are pleased to award the Humanitarian Award in 2011 to Anne Edwards.
2011 – ANNE EDWARDS
Midwest Region Humanitarian Award – 2009
This year the recipient of the Midwest Region Humanitarian Award is Janet Miller. Janet is a member of the Saving Animal Control Kitties or SACK group from Springfield IL. SACK takes cats out of their local high-kill government run Animal Control shelter and takes them to shows. At the shows, members of SACK actually exhibit these cats as HHPs and try to find them good homes.
Janet picks out cats to show and bathes and grooms them for the shows, which I would guess is not always an easy task. Members of SACK take at least 4 cats from the pound to each travel show besides their own personal show cats. Janet provides the transportation to the shows for the group and all the cats. She stores the equipment they need for the show and hotel stays—cages for the hotel room, totes of cage curtains, litter boxes, etc. She also single handedly made a large number of cage curtains for SACK usage so the cages for the HHPs they are trying to place look neat and professional. In 17 shows, SACK members have placed 149 cats, which is a truly amazing number.
The Midwest Region is pleased to award Janet with the region’s Humanitarian Award for all the good work she is doing in her community to save cats that end up in the local shelter.
2009 – JANET MILLER
Photo Copyright:(©) Preston Smith Photography, 2012
Midwest Region Humanitarian Award – 2008
Cindy Willoughby has been working with animal rescue all of her adult life. She started volunteering with a local no-kill shelter after she got out of college. “When I started working part time at a Petcare (now Petco) store, I started going out to our local animal control (kill shelter) on a weekly basis and writing down descriptions of dogs/cats out there who needed homes and posting my hand written lists on Petcare’s bulletin board, in order to get the public to realize that there were good animals out there needing homes.” Animal Control, at that time, was not actively getting animal info out for the public knowledge. Over time Cindy became friends with the staff at Animal Control and they started working harder to inform the public about available animals.
Then one Saturday the office manager and Cindy loaded up a bunch of dogs, took them to a local feed store and did her first off-site adoption. And that was the beginning of Cindy’s very successful animal placement calling – over 20 years ago.
Cindy has no idea how many dogs and cats she has rescued and gotten placed in forever homes. “With just taking Animal Control cats to cat shows Jan (Miller) and I have placed 338 cats.” She and Jan started taking Animal Control cats to shows about 7-8 years ago when someone gave them money to pay an entry fee for a household pet. They decided to approach Animal Control since those animals are the ones who need the help the most..they have no other options. Cindy and Jan told them what we wanted to select a cat, groom and bathe it just like their show cats, enter the cat in the show and take it as an available pet. Animal Control gave them the authorization and that continued Cindy’s rescue calling on a new level.
“That first show the cat was adopted and we were THRILLED,” Cindy said. At the beginning she and Jan could only do one show a year..their home show in Springfield, IL. The next year she and Jan took four cats. “We did the same show prep..bathing, grooming, nails, ears, etc as our own cats,” according to Cindy. We entered the show and the cats were all adopted again. “We were on CLOUD NINE.”
As people heard about what Cindy and Jan were doing, some started donating to help with entry fees. After about 4-5 years, Cindy asked Animal Control about taking 3-4 cats to out-of town shows. After checking with the higher authorities they were given the ok to travel with the cats and adopt them also. Cindy was shown how to do the paperwork and she and Jan were set. “Now we make as many shows that allow HHPs as we can with the pound kitties. Our local show has REALLY grown..we now enter about 25 cats for the added exposure and we take out a total of usually 40 cats all together for adoption. We normally adopt out about 3/4ths of them.”
One kitty Cindy has placed stands out and became a heart kitty for her, she said. Carter was a B/W domestic shorthair who she and Jan took in the second grouping of cats. Even though he was a full grown male who was about 1-2 years old, he was very docile with his bath and he LOVED being on the judging table. He would head butt judges, kiss them and was a smoozing expert. Cindy and her friend Brenda couldn’t believe this cat. They decided to co-adopt him, he would live at Brenda’s house and Cindy would continue to show him and use him as a shelter Ambassador cat. When Carter got to Brenda’s house, he claimed her husband Darrell as his person. He followed him everywhere, watched TV with him, slept next to him in bed, waited for him at the door when he got home from work, etc. When he would be with Cindy at a show, he loved her but she could tell he was glad to be home with his Daddy. After a couple years of showing, Darrell asked when he got to stay at home. So that was Carter’s last year of showing and he was retired. He passed away in 2011 from a health issue and is terribly missed.
Besides cat shows Cindy also does Sangamon County Animal Control’s cat side of their Petfinder site. Her friend Diane takes the cats’ pictures and Cindy does the write ups. ‘I am out there most nights after work to get info and spend time with the cats to get to know their PURRsonalities,” Cindy said. She also posts links to these pages on Facebook, Pinterest and other places she finds. “All the exposure you can get helps..you never know who might know someone looking for a kitty,” she said.
Cindy feels strongly about individual involvement in animal rescue. She said, “Keep your support, both monetary and physical, at home with local shelters. Then you will know that donations are going towards what they are supposed to. Shelters can never have too many volunteers. Don’t avoid the kill shelters..they need the help the most to get their residents out and into homes. Avoiding going because you know they are a kill shelter will NOT help the problem at all!! Be part of the solution..go in and help with anything you can. Bathe animals, walk dogs, socialize cats, contact rescue groups for them, post flyers on animals, use the media to post, work off-site adoptions, hold adoption events at the facility, etc. They are all understaffed and they don’t have time to do the things that are not a necessity for the animals’ care. You have to remember you can’t save them all, but think of the difference in the lives of those that you do save.”
And Cindy Willoughby has done just that – saved lives of animals for years. She definitely deserves the Humanitarian Award.