About Us
At the heart of Triple R Pets is our volunteers. As an all-volunteer group, no person helping to support our rescue efforts receives a salary. It is the dozens of volunteers that work tirelessly to help the animals and the people who love them, that truly make Triple R Pets what it is.
Triple R Pets was founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a way for volunteers on the Gulf Coast to come together and do some really good work reuniting animals with their owners, finding homes for animals who could no longer remain with their owners, and helping owners rebuild their lives.
As we wrapped up our time on the coast, we turned our attention to “disaster on the home front,” focusing on Trap-Neuter-Return efforts in the chicagoland area. That was nearly fifteen years ago. Today, we continue those efforts, working across the South / Southwest areas of Cook County and expanding outside Cook County and even into Indiana!
Board of Directors
Ms. Clark, in blue, discussing the situation in Biloxi, MS during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with President George W. Bush. L-R: Board Member Kim Bill (holding one of the puppies that would hitch a ride to a forever home on AirForce One), a local volunteer, Board Member and Project Gulf Coast Coordinator Ben Waldman, Judy Clark, and President George W. Bush.
Judy Clark, Executive Director
Ms. Clark spent several years volunteering with various shelters and rescues in the Chicagoland area. In addition, Ms. Clark and her family are active in the support and rehabilitation of animals through fostering programs.
For three years Ms. Clark ran a not-for-profit youth soccer club in the Chicagoland area with annual revenues of over $500,000 and a staff of over twenty. As the Club Manager and Treasurer, Ms. Clark prepared all financial statements and oversaw the day to day operations of the organization.
In the business world, Ms. Clark has spent over thirty years in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry working for Keebler, Kelloggs, TreeHouse Foods and ran a boutique consulting practice for several years. She currently serves as the CEO for Fresh Texas.
Collette Walker, getting and giving a big hug to a Biloxi rescue pup.
Collette Walker, Board Member, Program Director
Ms. Walker has been active in community relations for over thirty years. Ms. Walker’s career was spent as a college professor of English. Before and after retirement, she worked with several animal shelters in the extended Chicago area. Ms. Walker is sole owner of a retail business, Phoenix Stained Glass, which solicits commissions for residential and commercial architectural stained glass panels. Ms. Walker designs, constructs and installs the beautiful art glass panels made in the traditional way of stained glass art.
Ms. Walker’s contributions to animal shelters include public relations, communications coordination, graphical design, staffing, and hands on work with the animals.
Ms. Walker continues to lead the TNR program across the Chicagoland area.
Ben Waldman holding a puppy during a Triple R Pets sponsored micro-chipping, bath and nail trim event in Gulfport, MS following Hurricane Katrina.
Ben Waldman, Board Member
Ben Waldman has been involved in animal rescue for over fifteen years, beginning as a volunteer with a cat shelter in a Chicago suburb.
In January of 2006 Mr. Waldman moved to Biloxi, MS to head up the Triple R Pets Gulf Coast Program. In this capacity, Mr. Waldman managed more then one hundred volunteers who went to Mississippi to assist with our efforts over a one year period of time. Before leaving Mississippi, Mr. Waldman had recruited and fully trained a replacement volunteer to extend the project another year. In addition to his direct role with the animals along the coast, Mr. Waldman built solid relationships with other volunteer organizations and became a respected member of the community.
In December of 2008, Mr. Waldman spent a month in Haiti providing hurricane relief efforts in Gonaives, Haiti. He returned to Haiti following the devastating earthquake in January, 2010. This time, he spent a year living and volunteering in Leogane, Haiti. His focus was on providing sustainable eco-friendly sanitation for the Haitians. While not working in affiliation with Triple R Pets on this project, but with All Hands & Hearts Disaster Response, Mr. Waldman was always keeping an eye out for animals that needed assistance! In 2012, Mr. Waldman headed to Rockaway Beach following Superstorm Sandy to help support the recovery and rebuilding efforts there.
Mr. Waldman holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and now lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Using the skills he acquired over many years of disaster response rebuilding, Ben is a co-owner of Living Craft Design-Build, specializing in Sustainable Building throughout Denver and the Front Range.
Kim Bill, on a transport from Biloxi, MS to Illinois with a very large Great Dane!
Kim Bill, Board member
Kim Bill has been active in a number of non-profit organizations over the last twenty years, including being a licensed foster parent for Lutheran Social Services, serving as a board member for Tazewell-Woodford County Head Start, and acting as a parent representative and board member for a NAHRA horse therapy program.
As the parent representative of Central Illinois Riding Therapy, Ms. Bill was awarded the 2005 Parent of the Year Award for over 300 hours of volunteer service. Ms. Bill holds a Master’s degree in Education from Illinois State University. She has taught and consulted in Peoria County for over twenty years, recently returning to a teaching position with her children now grown.