Back in 1976 there were a lot of celebrations and changes going on. The USA was celebrating its 200-year birthday with tall ships sailing by the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. In Garland there was a group of folks taking over a storefront but not to sell goods. They were setting up an organization for the welfare of animals. They decided to call it Operation Kindness.
Over the past 43 years, OK has grown from the little spot in Garland scraping together funds to care for the animals in need of help. They’ve assisted over 105,000 homeless animals and raised funds to move into its present facility in Carrollton.
But during the past four months, they were without a permanent CEO. While the board of directors undertook a search high and low for a new leader, board member Robert Catalani served as interim CEO.
It was just announced that despite all the searching, they had their new CEO right there. Yup, they’re removed the word “interim” from Robert’s title.
Today is Robert’s first full day as OK’s permanent CEO.
According to Board of Directors President Jim Gibson, “We’re thrilled that Bob will be continuing in his role as CEO. He has the confidence of the board and senior leadership, and we are excited about having at the helm leading Operation Kindness into the future.”
Having retired last August as the south regional president of Breakthru Beverage Group, Robert “got involved in the local community as a planning and zoning commissioner in Addison,” in addition to being the proud human companion of his two rescue pooches Ace and Gracie.
Robert and the board have their work cut out for them in the months ahead. In addition to caring for 400 animals daily and its $12M capital campaign, they’re undertaking “renovations and updates to their adoption center and animal hospital.”
Adding his own remarks, Robert said, “During the months I’ve worked with Operation Kindness, I’ve enjoyed being involved in the growth and expansion of an organization that cares deeply for animals. Equally exciting is the progress being made on our capital campaign. We’re eagerly anticipating the new animal hospital being complete in August.”
* Photo provided by Operation Kindness