Our Story

President/Co-Founder

Shannon@theoutreachconnection.org

Shannon has been an OSHA authorized trainer and a Construction and Environmental Health and Safety Professional for over 15 years.  She also began teaching CPR over 25 years ago.  Before becoming a mother, she worked her way from an overnight staff to a group home manager for The Arc Of Morris County and then became a Project Director for Developmental Resources Corporation, overseeing five community group homes.  Both organizations are dedicated to compassionately serving developmentally disabled adults.  Her dedication and love of animals, children, and community service integrated into her professional work over the past 25 years.  She has founded and run two recreational gymnastics centers and an educational wildlife conservation center, which flourished even while they overlapped her career in Safety.  She served as the president of the Voorhees High School Music Association for four years and volunteered on countless projects for her children's Boy Scout and school based organizations.  It was while travelling to inspect construction sites and conduct safety and health classes throughout all of New Jersey and New York that she began distributing supplies to those in homelessness, and to area animal shelters near the various job sites she worked on. This is where it all truly began.  With the support and partnership of her daughter in law Rachel, they both desired to do so much more. This is when the vision for The Outreach Connection was born in late 2018, and incorporated as a 501c3 charity in early 2019. 

Vice President/Co-Founder

Rachel@theoutreachconnection.org

Rachel completed her degree at Centenary University in Marketing and Business Management.  She is driven and experienced far beyond her years, with a deep history of being active in many causes and working hard from a young age. She is an extremely experienced event planner, social media marketing expert, and has an incredible vision for her career as a co-founder of The Outreach Connection.  The easy route would have been to quickly get a job in her field using her experience working with animals at care facilities, volunteering, event planning, and her organizational and business skills.  The route she chose that is far more challenging, and yet far more rewarding: to be an integral force in the success of The Outreach Connection.  She has sat on the board of directors for Pink Heals, Lehigh Valley for 2 years until leaving that position to start this new non-profit venture from the ground up. Currently, she is the Vice President for the Lebanon Township Volunteer Fire Department and heads their fundraising efforts.  It is through her dedication to making a difference in the lives of others that she welcomes this chapter for her post graduation career. Her desire to brighten the days of people who are struggling carries into her work with volunteers as well as those that are served through this organization.