Amanda brings hope to pups and kittens in Florida

Since becoming the official laundry partner of Best Friends Animal Society (BFAS), we’ve gotten to meet so many passionate animal advocates.  But these heroes exist in a variety of organizations – many affiliated with BFAS. To honor them for their efforts, Speed Queen gifted several of these special foster moms and dads a TR7/DR7 set to help simplify laundry day and enable them to focus on providing the best possible care for their furry foster friends. Today, we’ll introduce you to our own Amanda in Lake Worth, Florida.

What happens when you mix a love of animals with the drive to streamline things? You get Amanda Goebel, who’s an absolute asset to her animal rescue.

As you meet folks in the animal foster community, many are surprised by how quickly they took to the task of helping animals find their forever homes. Amanda, however, knew this was an activity she was destined to do. She jokes that it started innocent enough…she visited an adoption event to see a puppy. And then, like all great things, it started with a fleeting idea, “it would be fun to foster a whole litter.”

And there you have it…the beginnings of an idea. Within 24 hours, she had a pen in her dining room and a routine down – remember? She’s a process person. She knew right then that her love of animals and process skills would not just be useful, but would fill her heart.

So, how do you know your commitment to fostering is strong? When the carpet gets pulled up and a bedroom gets turned into a puppy room…that was 2017.

Since that point, Amanda, fostering through A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue, has made a giant impact in helping cats and dogs.

Today, she can scarcely imagine not fostering. Amanda has found more than an organization and cause she’s proud to support, much more.

“These guys are my family,” she said, noting that it didn’t take long to feel the sense of community within the group. Heck, the president of the rescue is even her emergency contact because “nobody answers the phone more than her.”

Making a difference

When you find you’re great at pulling things together and find your passion in helping animals, you pair them and that’s just what Amanda has done. Since she started with the rescue, she worked to put together processes that made it easier for new fosters to take on animals with confidence. With better processes in place, the foster base grew, which means they were able to help more animals.

It also meant others were freed up to drive growth in other areas.

Like the RV the rescue purchased to help manage increased numbers and more effectively transport animals.

More than numbers

In the world of fostering, it’s easy to keep score…wins, losses. But spend a bit of time with Amanda and you’ll quickly learn it’s never about numbers (though hers are up around 500). She’d much rather talk about the people’s lives that have been changed through the dogs and cats she’s helped pair them with.

She’s stayed in touch with many of them and counts that bond among the highlights of her efforts.

“When they say ‘you changed my life’” and remember you at the holidays,” she said that makes all the work and heartache meaningful.

To learn more about A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue, visit click here.