SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association

July 2010 • Vol 6 No 4

Alumna Seeks Great Homes for Danes

They’re not all stars of the newspaper page or big screen, but Karen Philips Randolph ’03 thinks they’re truly great.

Karen Phillips Randolph '03 and Appa. Made a household name by the Marmaduke comic and more recent summer film, Great Danes are a big part of Randolph’s life as an owner and rescuer. She’s headed the Smoky Mountain Great Dane Rescue for nearly two years in addition to continuously keeping four dogs in her Knoxville, Tenn., home.

“They really become family members more than other breeds of dogs do,” said Randolph, who owns three Great Danes and fosters one at a time. “Someone put it, ‘Most dogs love you, but Great Danes fall in love with you.'”

Despite their amiable personalities and lovable mugs, they also take up quite a bit of space.

About 90 percent of the Great Danes Randolph receives are from people who can no longer support the pets. They go from puppies to 150-pound pooches quickly, she said.

“They’re incredible dogs, but you have to be consistent with training,” said Randolph. A zoology major at Oswego, she started her career working in a cat shelter and returned to animal welfare as a volunteer while working at a zoo and, currently, in animal control.

With a base of about 30 active volunteers and roughly 100 supporters, the Smoky Mountain Great Dane Rescue placed about 20 dogs last year. Randolph and her staff — which includes her husband, Rory — do thorough interviews and follow up visits with adopting families.

“We take them in, we really work on them, we make sure they are healthy,” the city of Knoxville animal control officer said. “We do a lot of training.”

The organization does numerous events for awareness and fundraising each year, including a weekly Great Dane walk for current and potential owners. They were able to use the Marmaduke movie as a catalyst for media interviews and public awareness in June.

— Shane M. Liebler

PHOTO CAPTION:
Karen Philips Randolph ’03 and her dog, Appa, handle the Smoky Mountain Great Dane Rescue booth at a recent event.

Back to July front page • Next story: Alumni Award • Previous story: Reunion 2010

Oswego Alumni Association, Inc. • King Alumni Hall - SUNY Oswego • Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-2258 • 315-312-5570 (fax) • E-mail: alumni@oswego.edu • Web site: oswego.edu/alumni

Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler