Volunteer

Foothills Animal Rescue is very fortunate to have DixieLee Melkus as a regular volunteer at FAR. Volunteering has been a part of DixieLee’s life since childhood and as an adult her professional career included regional directorships for a professional organization coordinating volunteers and training volunteer board of directors first in the Midwest as regional director for the national immunization program coordinated with the CDC and then as Northeast regional director in their New York office also training boards and offering continuing education programs. DixieLee’s masters program included the first classes in volunteer administration which she put to good use.  She moved to Scottsdale and spent the next 24 years in volunteer management of hospital volunteers in Scottsdale.  Scottsdale was so slow after life in New York, so DixieLee added a second job to keep busy and for fun and profit in the evening and weekends at the Robinson’s May Department store as a suit specialist for 19 years.

DixieLee has been a volunteer at FAR since the end of April 2010.  She loves volunteering at the Boutique and all the other great people who volunteer with her. The boutique has so many regular customers it feels like a very large family to her. She also currently volunteers for Phoenix Stages at Phoenix Symphony Hall, the Orpheum Theater and as an ambassador for the Phoenix Convention Center.  On a national level, DixieLee volunteers all over the country for the Tony Robbins Organization at their seminars, leadership and business programs.

In her spare time during the fall and winter she is a manufacturer’s rep selling active wear at what they call road shows. She enjoys selling active wear because the job provides a great flexible schedule and is lots of fun.

DixieLee has three children and one grandson.  Her daughter Stacy and grandson John share a home with her in Scottsdale. Stacy is a dedicated FAR shopper. Her daughter Lisa lives in Beverly Hills, CA and son, Tim divides his time between Chicago and New York.  DixieLee and her family have a house full of pets.  She adopted Greta and Rascal from the AZ Humane Society 3 years ago.  They are a mix of cairn terrier and chihuahua and are her constant companions.  She also adopted Chance, a second chance cat from the AZ Humane Society 2 years ago.  Chance has 3 legs and was one of the Pets of the Week on Channel 3 and nothing slows him down.  Her daughter has 4 kitties that also live with them named Lynx, Monkey, Angus, and Velvet. Their menagerie also includes grandson John’s a bearded dragon who has been with them for 4 years.  As you can tell, DixieLee has a very busy household.

Her other interests are traveling, reading, the theater, photography and playing computer games. She is never without a book and her smart phone substitutes for the camera that was her constant companion.