About Us
The Pet Project Midwest (TPPM) is making the world a better place through kindness to animals. The Pet Project Midwest is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping pets with the people who love them through proactive programming. We receive financial support through private donations, corporate sponsorships and grants. Our management team is an unsalaried board of directors.Successfully operating programs thus far include Iowa Pet Alert and The Pet Pantry.
Prior to starting her current business, Sara worked in legal support, business management, investment banking, construction, real estate development and sales. An LA native, she moved to Des Moines in the late 90s. Since then she's wiped off most of the items on her bucket list, and is now in the process of building and completing a new bucket list, which includes helping animals. All of her pets were found either in shelters or abandoned on the street and have various controllable but costly health issues.
A former reporter and editor and constant multitasker, Courtney Tompkins doesn't think it's rude to greet a pet first and is unapologetic for the dog hair on her clothes. If she smells funny, rest assured it's probably just treats in her pocket or a rawhide in her purse. By day Courtney is a writer-designer-photographer-public relations sort-of-gal for Calcium Products & NatraTurf. She is proud to be community outreach chair for TPPM and is delighted to work with other pet-loving people. The rest of the time she freelances, assists her husband Tyler with the couple's businesses and strives to be the best wife, sister, daughter and friend possible. Ultimately she'd prefer to spend the day snuggling with her three furbabies, Tucker, Tank & Tonka, and rescuing pets in need of good homes. Her friends and family know resistance is futile once Courtney has found "the perfect pet for them" in need of a home.
Kim Hanlon is the current Chief Financial Officer at Des Moines Transportation Company and the newest member to our board. She came to The Pet Project Midwest after responding to a volunteer ad on VolunteerMatch.com. A graduate of Upper Iowa University in psychology, she never expected to find herself working with numbers. After years of working in the social service area, accounting was a huge change. Working with TPPM she has been able to join her career path with her passion to help others. She could never imagine what torture it would be to relinquish one of her fury babies because of financial reasons and doesn't think anyone should have to. Kim's dogs Sid and Buddy and cats Mr. Mister and Princess are her best pals They don't mind her singing, love to snuggle, play and miss her when she's gone. Kim likes to spend her spare time with her husband John just enjoying anything life sends their way.
Justin has lived/worked in Des Moines since 2008 after graduating from Buena Vista University with a double major in Marketing and Management Information Systems. He is a web developer for Dealer Impact Systems in Urbandale but also does freelancing on the side for his company HTML Marketing. Justin grew up with a cat as a child but currently has a golden retreiver, Buffy, at his parents' house back in Fort Dodge. However, Justin's newest addition to his home (besides his beautiful wife Jonah) is their Westie puppy "Eisley". In his free time Justin enjoys playing guitar, listening to music, and playing/watching sports.
Karla Rendall has been in the banking industry for 12 years working in the Retail, Small Business Lending and Cash Management sectors. Currently, she holds the position of Vice President- Retail Sales Manager for Liberty Bank. She is happily married to her husband, Dan, and is the proud Mom of her 19 month old son, Kole. Her furry children include Dozer, their 5 year old Vizsla and two cats by the name of Weasel and Trigger. Kole loves all three of them and tries to pick them up any chance he gets. In her spare time, she enjoys reading a good suspense thriller book, going to the movies and saving stray animals! Her passion and love for animals has followed her since childhood and is devoted to making the world a better place for furry companions.
Kitte Noble was born to be an animal lover OR a country western singer.... the name on her birth certificate IS Kitte. She was born in Denver, CO. Her family ended up on an acreage in Iowa which allowed her to have a menagerie of pets her whole life. Kitte currently serves as the Executive Director for The Rotary Club of Des Moines. She is a single mom to one dog, Mary Jane (aka MJ Sweet Pup) and three cats: Cyrano (aka Pud); Romeo (aka Hootie) and Chloe Caccoey. In her free time she teaches Pilates at the Ankeny YMCA and participates in triathlons. She thanks her dog Mary Jane for being her personal trainer (at least for the run portion of the races).
Kristen Pudenz recently joined the board in 2012 as the Human Resources chair and is excited to be a part of making a difference for animals. Kristen believes that every pet should have a loving home and this is one way to give back to that passion. During the day, she works at Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield as a Performance Consultant focusing on leader and team development. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her dog Gus, husband Clint, and daughter Alison.
We are extremely grateful to those who've poured blood, sweat & tears into TPPM in our formative stages. We offer a special thanks to former members of our board of directors:
- Becky Mollenkamp
- Holly Hartling
- Monica Wimber
- Rachael Woods
- Chris Alleman
