OUR BOARD
Cruces Cool Cats is made up of volunteers. There are no paid staff.
Selina Cardoza-Wainer
Founder and Director
For many years, my dream has been to operate a cat rescue. And here we are! Cruces Cool Cats is up and running to help as many homeless cats as we can! I am an animal lover with 4 cats, 5 dogs, 5 large fish tanks, and 1 turtle of my own. I cannot remember a time without an animal in my life.
Cassidy Zehnder
Vice President
I love animals, both domestic and wild, and am really passionate about CCC's mission. I moved to Las Cruces in the summer of 2023 and inherited about 15 community cats with the property. I have 8 cats and a dog of my own- Zeni, Sparky, Wybie, Mango, Twilight, Bambi, Pascal, Cheez It, and Hazel. I also foster for CCC.
Jessica Chavez-Molina
General Member
I was born & raised in Las Cruces, having raised 4 children and saved dozens of dogs and cats. I began volunteering in Summer of 2024. My meaning to life is helping as many animals as I can. My family and I take in senior, blind, and hospice dogs. We also inherited a colony of 14 cats when we moved 2 years ago! Pictured is handsome boy, Mo.
OUR VOLUNTEERS
Our volunteers are crucial to pursuing our mission. They assist with important programming and tasks like TNR, events, cleaning, socializing, photography, and more. Click here to learn more about volunteering and other ways to help.
Clarissa Skinner-Ramp
Clarissa was born and raised in NM, having spent the past 18 years in Las Cruces. She currently has a kitten named Tama and an adult named Mystery, who she adopted from CCC. She is excited to be here as a caretaker! She enjoys learning the unique personalities of all the cats. She is a very dedicated volunteer!
Julian & Sunny
These sweet doggies live at the sanctuary and help socialize the cats. Julian is our OG dog. Sunny came to us in 2024 and has become such a confident, fun-loving dog.
Debbie & Bob Raynor
Debbie and Bob originally hail from Southern New Jersey, but have called New Mexico 'home' for over 20 years. During the pandemic, they were adopted by a dilute calico community cat named Mocha. Due to her clipped ear, they learned of the TNR Program, and heartily support it. Sadly, 2 years after adopting them, Mocha was found to have feline leukemia and passed away. They adopted Dazzle from CCC in 2025.
Hollie & Shawn Zehnder
Hollie, Shawn and their family moved to New Mexico in 2023. They love animals, especially cats. Hollie works in healthcare and Shawn works in IT. Their daughter Cassidy is on the board of CCC, and they enjoy helping whenever they can!
Katy Remacle
Katy has 2 cats of her own- pictured is Nami! She has loved animals her whole life. Katy loves what CCC is doing. Being able to help our community by volunteering is such a cool experience for her!
Isabella Saucedo
Isabella is a college student getting her degree in horticulture. She started volunteering at CCC to get over her fear of cats. She volunteers once a week and adopted Chaplin from CCC in November 2025. Isabella hopes to guide others in the cat community toward the sanctuary.
Raquel Torres
Raquel is a cat lover and has her own crochet business! Having grown up learning to care about animals, she loves learning about the cats' different personalities. She started her crochet business because it allows her to bring joy to others and express her creativity.
Beck Ehardt
Beck moved to Las Cruces in summer 2025 and soon began volunteering for CCC. She is a vet tech student and a mom to a cat and snake, both rescues. She works at a local vet. Beck loves the community she has found by volunteering.
Ava Dickensheets
Ava is a lifelong animal lover and has 5 perfect cats at home, as well as a dog. She loves nature, travelling, and learning wherever she goes. She grew up in Las Cruces, NM and now goes to NMSU to study geology.
Reeanna Dayley
Reeanna was born in Silver City but has lived in Las Cruces all of her life. She has been married for almost 30 years and has a son and daughter. Reeanna started fostering to help her mom when she was just 15. Her mom had rescued a squirrel and from there began animal rehabilitation. At one point there were 20-30 bottle kittens and Reeanna fell in love with helping. She loves knowing the fact that she saves their little lives and that because of what she does, they live a good life.
Alison Halbleb
Alison grew up in PA (Go Birds!) and has resided in various locations before making Las Cruces her home in 2023. She is a proud pet mom to 2 rescue cats, Fernando and Herbert, and a rescue dog, Henry. When she is not rescuing cats off the street, she can be found hiking in the desert trails or hunting for thrift store treasures.
Angel Shams
Angel has 2 cats but has had more! She loves animals and hopes to one day be a veterinarian. She currently is studying nursing and animal science with a couple of different minors. Angel loves to volunteer not only for vet school but to get the opportunity to see and interact with other cats.
Maggie Gilbert
​Maggie is a Burrell COM student and working towards a future career as a medical doctor. Although new to Las Cruces, she cares deeply for her community and has loved animals her whole life. She started volunteering at Cruces Cool Cats as a way to give back, take a study break, and meet adorable kitties. Back home, she has three cats - Izzy (pictured above), Trixie, and Chummy, all tuxedos! Maggie hopes to share the amazing contributions of CCC with her fellow students and encourage them to volunteer and adopt/foster.