Elaine Tumonis and Marianne Wright
Our 2022 Gratitude Report reflects our Fiscal Year July 2021 – June 2022. Let me take this opportunity to thank our Board of Directors for their support and hard work on behalf of HFS: Vice President Joseph Zanetta, Board Secretary The Rev. Nathan Biornstad, and members of the board in no particular order: The Rev. Guy Leemhuis, Paula Kendrick, Sithy Farook, and Elaine Tumonis. The Rev. Thomas Quijada-Discavage and Maura Lemon filled out their terms on the board, and we reluctantly bid them farewell as of June 30, 2022.
Our new fiscal year began on July 1, and so we welcome incoming board members Mary Hatton, an HFS alumni adoptee, who is currently Development Director for the Sisters of Social Service; and Jeff Lawson, an HFS adoptive parent, who is currently an Underwriting Manager for the Western Zone of Old Republic Insurance Group. We also welcome back now-retired John Thies, who previously served 6 years on the HFS Board.
The big news at the agency was the retirement of long-time bookkeeper and office manager Jennifer Gutierrez, who after 22 years with HFS left at the end of August. Board meetings, fundraisers, thank you notes, audits, purchasing supplies, insurance renewals, HR issues – you name it, Jennifer did it all! We are so grateful for her many years with HFS and wish her luck on her next adventure. The staff is sad to see her go.
As Jennifer left, Melinda McLeod came in the same door. Melinda has many years of experience with office management and bookkeeping, including working with an architecture firm, a restaurant, a graphic design firm, and an art gallery. Melinda is an accomplished artist herself, and we look forward to her creativity in balancing all the broad needs that helping to run a small agency takes.
Featured is a photo taken at the Los Angeles Diocese Episcopal Convention in November 2021 with fellow board member and HFS adoptive parent Elaine Tumonis. It was one of the first large gatherings that I attended since the onset of the pandemic, and of course, we were “still masking.” It’s a reminder to me, and to you our supporters and donors, that COVID and the challenges of the world are still with us. Thank you to all who have stood by HFS these last few years as we move forward toward our 75th anniversary in 2024!
Sincerely,
Marianne Wright
Board President
