Adoption Center - 171 Mineral Springs Rd. Blue Ridge, GA 30513 706-632-4357
Thrift Store - 2380 East First St.Blue Ridge, GA 30513 706-632-5224
Opening March 27! Healthy Pet Clinic at our Adoption Center!
*** The Clinic will serve low income residents of Fannin County ***
Rick Glueckert
Executive Director
Operations
Diane Basco
Executive Director
Development
President from 2015 - Aug 2021
Rick Glueckert is a retired senior executive, event planner and entrepreneur with experience in Healthcare, as well as a diversified background in corporate management, budget controls, and government regulation at the state and local levels.
The last twenty years of working life concentrated on building a network of ice-skating rinks worldwide for seasonal family recreation. He moved from the Atlanta, GA area to the northwest corner of Georgia in Blue Ridge, Ga in 2014 where he resides with his wife of 50 years, Cindy.
He joined the Humane Society of Blue Ridge as President in 2016. During his tenure, he oversaw the building of the Adoption Center, the development of the Community Off-Leash Dog Park, the emergence of the Memorial Gardens, and the expansion of the Thrift Store.
Rick and his wife are avid volunteers with service to the Humane Society of Blue Ridge, the Lake Blue Ridge Civic Association, and the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association.
Director & Grant Writer from 2019 - Aug 2021
Diane spent 25+ years in strategic sales and sales leadership roles advising the Fortune 500 companies on how to leverage technology to solve complex business issues and deliver results that make a difference. Her specialties were revenue growth, cost reduction, public speaking, leading complex matrix organizations, and strategic planning. In addition, she also owned and operated a private Montessori school for 13 of those years.
She has a Business Administration undergraduate degree and an MBA (both from Kennesaw State University). She retired in 2016 and she and her husband moved up to Blue Ridge, GA to live. They have twin adult daughters and 3 dogs and 1 cat.
Initially, she became involved with the Humane Society of Blue Ridge doing volunteer work on our fundraising events, then moved into our grant writer position. For the past three years, Diane has been a critical contributor to our grant writing and fundraising, sponsor and donor relations, and developing new and evolving our community outreach programs.
Diane assumed the role of Executive Director - Development effective September 1, 2021, and will be an ex-officio member of the Board. Her promotion into this role acknowledges her past contributions to the organization and positions her to expand her impact moving forward. Her skills make her perfectly suited to help HSBR achieve our goals.
Brandy Arreaga
Adoption Center Manager
Brandy has always had a passion for animals, and she devotes her free time to saving homeless animals. She began her career in animal rescue in 2018 when she joined the Humane Society of Blue Ridge as an animal care technician.
Since that time, Brandy has broadened her experience by working with all of the animals in the shelter in their daily care and by assisting with their medical care. She promotes education and awareness for the community and best practices for shelter operations for the Humane Society of Blue Ridge team.
Brandy is devoted and focused on reducing the animal overpopulation problem and has worked with the TNR program in the local community to help spay and neuter local stray cats, and she has also worked with transport programs to help send homeless cats to other areas of the country where they could find homes.
She is an advocate for a fear-free environment for shelter animals and regularly participates in professional development seminars and classes to broaden her knowledge of animal psychology and welfare.
Brandy and her family share their home in Copperhill with 9 cats, 2 dogs, and many foster kittens.
Robbie Muschamp
Thrift Store Manager
Robbie was one of the original members of HSBR and has been the manager of the thrift store for many, many years. She took a small break to help raise her grandchild, but when she was able, she came back and is once again, our manager extraordinaire!
She works so hard with the volunteers to make the thrift store what it is today, which in turn, helps so many of our furry friends.
Robbie is also in charge of Paws in the Park, which she ran even when she was a full-time caregiver to her grandson. Paws in the Park flourishes to this day due to the dedication and hard work Robbie puts forth every year.
Robbie is such a gem for HSBR, the Thrift Upscale Thrift Store thrives under her leadership! We are so glad she returned "home" to us!