How it all began.....
It started in 2001.  One person, one vision, one animal at a time.  Founder, Gloria Wade, was determined to end pet homelessness and reduce animal overpopulation in Central Florida.  In 2002, the organization she founded was instrumental in convincing the commissioners of Seminole County to eliminate the practice of adopting out intact animals from the County Animal Shelter.  This in turn brought the benefits of spaying and neutering to the community’s attention.  From then on, the organization has supported many spay/neuter programs and assisted pet owners in need.  Today, we are focused on the vision of opening and operating our own High Volume Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic to service the residents of Central Florida.
Board of Directors

Gloria Wade, Secretary and Founder
Gloria Wade was born in St. Albans, New York, and moved to Central Florida in the 1950's. After a 32 year career with Southern Bell and the Winter Park Telephone Company, she retired and began advocating on behalf of homeless animals. Gloria volunteered with the local Humane Society and eventually founded the Animal Welfare Alliance of Central Florida in 2001. With a big heart, Gloria quickly became a pet parent to seven homeless dogs and three cats. While Gloria has turned the primary functions of AWACF over to the Board of Directors, she remains active as a consultant and volunteer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheila Westerveld, President
Before moving to Orlando at the end of 2007 with her husband and two cats, Sheila lived in Connecticut where she worked with several local “TNR” (trap, neuter, return) organizations. She also served on the board of Animal Life Savers, Inc., a family run non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing animals in the New Jersey/New York metro area. Sheila’s Environmental and Regulatory professional background aided her in her position as the Regulatory Compliance Officer and Financial Advisor. Having previously worked with Orange County Animal Services, Sheila currently works in the Environmental, Health and Safety field.

 

Advisory Board

 

Kelly Lodde, Sr. Counsel and V.P. of Hilton Grand Vacations Company

 

The “Chain of Souls” is a visual representation that no one forgets. Each paper chain represents a cat or dog from one shelter in Central Florida that was euthanized in one year.  

 

The Alliance wants to break the link!

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

Dara Edmonds, Vice President

Dara is a Florida native and lives in Oviedo with her husband, 2 cats and a dog.  She is finishing up her BS in Criminal Justice from UCF but would like to use it toward an animal related position because that is where her passion is. Finding a job that combined the two would be her ideal dream job!

She has volunteered/fostered with the South Lake Animal League, rescued pit bulls on her own, worked at a veterinarians office as a technician, owned my own pet sitting business, and also worked at a holistic pet food store/doggie bakery.