On Monday, Monroe County Helping Strays staff and volunteers welcomed Scott Spinner, its new executive director, on his first day. 

While Spinner, who is succeeding interim director Dennis Patton in the role, and his family live in Smithton, his ties to Monroe County run deep. Before serving as executive director of the O’Fallon YMCA, he held the same position for the Monroe County YMCA.

“Through my experience in Monroe County, we have developed a number of relationships in the community and with other nonprofits and things of that nature, so I knew some of the folks with Helping Strays through some of that work,” Spinner said. “So, when the position came open, it piqued my interest.” 

He also coached varsity boys basketball at Waterloo High School for the 2020-21 season.

His love for Monroe County, which he called “the best place on Earth,” combined with his fondness of furry friends, made Spinner view the position as the perfect fit. 

“I have always loved animals. They’ve been a big part of our life. We have multiple family members who have adopted pets and so we believe in that work,” Spinner said.

Spinner and his family currently have two golden retrievers, Pippen and Harper. Their first golden, Jordan, passed away. All three are named after former Chicago Bulls basketball players.

In seeing the joy these pets have brought to his household, Spinner said he’s excited to make that a reality for other families. 

“They’re just great, social creatures,” Spinner said. “Having them, especially around our children, has been fantastic. We’ve had wonderful experiences there so if we can help provide that to other people, I think that’s great.” 

His three daughters are excited to help in these endeavors too, Spinner said. 

“Another part of me deciding on this role is I really like having a position where it’s a family environment,” Spinner said. “It’s somewhere they can come and volunteer and they can be part of it. We try to do everything as a family, so I’m excited about that component of it.” 

Spinner said his first order of business is to get to know Helping Strays staff and volunteers. He explained learning from them is an essential part of propelling the shelter forward. 

“I’ve been told we have a fantastic staff so my first goal would be to build relationships with them, and then our board members and volunteers,” Spinner said. “Then through that, I want to use their guidance to build a strategic plan for Helping Strays, and I think that will be the thing that leads us into the future.” 

Spinner said he is also excited to attend his first “A Cause for Paws” gala, which is the shelter’s largest annual fundraiser. The date has been set for June 17 at The Falls Reception & Conference Center in Columbia. 

For updates on this event and more Helping Strays happenings, visit helpingstrays.org or follow the shelter on Facebook.