Becky Gillette – For nine years, the dogs and cats at the Good Shepherd Human Society have had a special friend looking out for them. TraceEllen, who prefers her one name, has been manager of the Good Shepherd Humane Society thrift stores in Berryville and Eureka Springs, and in charge of various fundraisers that keep the no-kill shelter operation going.
“What I like most is knowing every dime we make at the thrift stores goes to the shelter, to the animals,” TraceEllen, who is retiring to travel with her husband, said. “The second thing I have really liked about the job is that we are helping the environment by leaving a small footprint. We recycle, reuse and repurpose a lot that comes in our store. We don’t put a lot in the dumpster. The third thing I really like is that the pricing is very reasonable. The majority of items in the store have good pricing where the average family can come in and save money.”
This has not been a nine-to-five, five-day-a-week job. When she first started, TraceEllen was working 65 hours per week. Two and a half years ago, she got an assistant, and her hours dropped to 58 per week. Fundraising activities, like the annual Doggie Style Show, soak up her spare time.
“But I have always loved it,” she who has four dogs and two cats, said. “It didn’t bother me I had to work long hours because I knew it was for a good purpose. We’ve always been lucky with the community being generous, and we have the best volunteers ever. They put in so many hours. It takes an average of thirty volunteers per week to cover every shift. I have a lot of five-year and ten-year volunteers. Connie Schrader has been here twenty years!”
Schrader is sorry to see TraceEllen leave.
“She is one of the few people I have met who can juggle six different problems at once,” Schrader said. “She is wonderful. She doesn’t micromanage. She knows if you are sixty years old and have managed to live this long, you can solve ninety percent of the problems. She counts on everyone’s ability and ingenuity. She ignores quibbling problems and lets people make decisions. She understands human nature.”
Schrader said TraceEllen has up to 50 people working for her off and on, and is able to juggle their needs while making them feel like valued contributors.
TraceEllen knows how important it is to tell volunteers they are appreciated. If they don’t hear that, they won’t stick around. Right now they are looking for about 12 new volunteers to work one 3.5-hour shift per week.
“Dealing with volunteers takes a special talent,” she said. “For thirty years I worked at supervisor-type positions, and then came on to Good Shepherd where the workers are all volunteers. You want to make them happy and not waste their time.”
Her pet peeve is people who donate things that should go in the trash. If there is an item you wouldn’t buy at a garage sale, don’t donate it to the Doggie Store. Only donate clean things, and don’t put donations in 50-gallon plastic bags because they are too difficult for volunteers to pick up.
Part of the transition for her happened when the father of her husband, Paul Kelly, passed away.
“It made Paul realize you need to stop, smell the roses, slow down,” TraceEllen said. “He wants me to semi retire with him so we can travel and do the things we have wanted to do. We bought an RV and want to travel the U.S. We want to spend more time with our grandkids in Round Rock, Texas. Our son lives in Amarillo, so everyone is far away. For my husband and me, family is really important.”
TraceEllen is confident that while she enters a new chapter of her life, Good Shepherd will continue to thrive.
“Whoever gets hired as manager will be good,” she said. “There will be some changes because that always happens. But they will be good. We have seven new board members, which is terrific. I’ve been talking to them and there are some wonderful things they are going to start doing.”
Janet Chupp, assistant thrift store manager, said she has absolutely loved working with TraceEllen.
“She is dynamic!” Chupp said. “If you want something done, she does it. She will be missed tremendously.”