Born & raised on the Northwest side of Chicago, LeAnne Christoffel moved out to the Lombard area around 2005. Her and her now husband moved out on their own and wanted to adopt a friend for their current cat, and that is when LeAnne first got involved with Chicagoland Animal Rescue. LeAnne fell head over heels in love with Houdini (General Lee at the time) a beautiful orange and white long-haired cat in the PetSmart adoption space. She recalls how Houdini would hide in the pillowcases in the kennel and would only come out to groom his brothers. So, General Lee became Houdini after she successfully adopted him into their fur baby family.

Not long after adopting Houdini, LeAnne started volunteering with CAR and it was all over from there. If you are reading this interview from our newsletter or follow Chicagoland Animal Rescue’s social media accounts, you know who LeAnne Christoffel is, even if you don’t know it. LeAnne is behind everything you can imagine in the goings-on of CAR. She is the Board President, an Adoption Counsellor, and a Social Media Content Generating Mogul. She’s doing paperwork, fostering, cleaning up kennels, accepting new cats into the CAR family, heck, she’s the one writing this newsletter (except for this interview!).

She’s a middle school special education teacher by day, and The Queen Bee of this rescue in all of her ample free time. LeAnne and her husband have now adopted four CAR cats, Houdini (who passed away in 2019), Louise (her first foster AND foster failure), Jasper, and Penny. It was love at first sight when LeAnne met Jasper. We here at CAR all know it - an orange and white long-haired cat is LeAnne’s type. She has a weakness for them, even when they require additional resources and specialized medical care (Looking at you, Jeffy!). But her own furbaby Jasper has had his fair share of health scares including an ear hematoma, and then osteosarcoma in his back right leg. Neither of these things have slowed him down, and he has become a great tripod mascot for CAR.

*clockwise from top middle: Jasper, Louise, Penny*

When asked ‘Why do you like volunteering with CAR?’ LeAnne offered a few insights into how she can keep up the pace. Like, how amazing it is to run across people who adopted 10, 15, 20 years ago and the sparkle in their eyes when they talk about their CAR cat. As well as the care and love each cat receives from every volunteer, no matter how they help, is really the best part of this group, everyone is so invested in our kitties! She also appreciates how CAR is focused on finding the right match for pets and people alike, and supporting our adopters when they need it. She takes pride in being heavily involved in our community, and keep our intake and support right here in our area.

LeAnne claims that Honeybaked Ham and his shenanigans of harassing anyone who tried to tell him what to do is one of her favorite memories with CAR. This feisty boy ended up being our first official ‘foster to adopt’ situation with an amazing couple. He’s now living his best life with two other cats now out in California. Her boy Jasper is another one of her favorite CAR stories. She recalls here that she sure has a type (those orange & white long-haired boys), and being able to be Jasper’s mom through it all has been so rewarding.

Of course, it is not all sunshine, rainbows, and orange cats in rescue. The absolute glut of “stray” cats and of pets that can no longer live in their homes due to rising costs or housing is one of the more difficult sides to rescue for LeAnne. She also mentions “It’s just astounding to me that landlords and condo associations can prevent you from adopting a pet (or insisting your cat must be declawed, don’t get me started) into your own home.” Our world right now has made so many things so unaffordable that people are forced to part with their furry family members. The sudden boom we’re seeing of all these unneutered and unspayed cats is another huge area of concern. LeAnne is so very grateful for low cost spay/neuter organizations like Paws for a Cause but says there need to be much more of that and it needs to be accessible nationwide. This isn’t a crisis we can adopt or talk our way out of, and it won’t stop until everyone believes in spay/neuter!

*LeAnne with Marvin, one of our resident foster cats (currently available for adoption!)*

For fun, LeAnne reads almost anything, snuggles with cats, plays some casual PC gaming when she has the time, and loves to hang out with family and friends. So while yes, she is a middle school special education teacher, and she’s been a teacher in a wide range of schools and roles for about 15 years, LeAnne is also the HEART, SOUL, and PAWS of Chicagoland Animal Rescue. We have a wonderful group of volunteers who all have learned a lot from our fearless leader, and today and every day, we say THANK YOU!!!! To LeAnne Christoffel.

written by Mattie Jensen

LeAnne Christoffel

Marissa LaVigne puts good into the world and has fun