Board of Directors
Mary Nogueras, Executive Director
Mary works as an Outreach and Support Coordinator for Adoptive Families of Color at MARE. Mary and Jose have five children. They adopted two of their children and are in the process of adopting their oldest. Both kids have spent a significant amount of time in foster care. Mary is passionate about helping the youth in care and wants them to feel celebrated on their special day.
Jose Nogueras, Operations Director
An Active Duty member of the US Coast Guard, Jose brings his 14 years of logistics experience to managing The Gifted Crates inventory. A father of 4 children, two of whom were once foster kids themselves, Jose has the heart and understanding of what each child we serve yearns for.
Katie Hampton, Social Media Director
Katie has spent the last several years working towards her education while working full time and providing for her family. She graduated cum laude from Bridgewater State University with a bachelor’s in English with a concentration in literature and writing. She has recently found her dream job as an assistant teacher, working with children living with autism and other developmental disabilities. Katie has always been passionate about giving back to the community and is “wicked” excited to be able to do that through The Gifted Crate. Katie believes; “ Everyone deserves to feel special, especially on their birthday!”
Maureen Spencer, Assistant Director
Maureen's work in healthcare and human services helped to further her passion for giving back to the community. She has many years of experience volunteering and fundraising for various organizations. Her daughter, Mackenzie has played an active role in these efforts and continues to do so with The Giving Crate. They hope to open their home to children in foster care as they continue their work to make sure every birthday is special.
Michelle Skorupski, Volunteer Coordinator
Chief Operations Officer for Pilgrim Security and Consulting,LLC.
Michelle lives in Cumberland, RI with her husband and two daughters, Camilla age 14 and Cordelia, age 13 along with their many animals.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University.
Her experience in Public Administration started at the Department of Social Services in Human Resources. She is excited to continue her passion helping children working at The Gifted Crate.
Sarah Fontaine-Lipke, Western MA Regional Director
Sarah is a married mother of two young children who has spent most of her life in western Massachusetts. She is a full-time stay at home mom and also works part-time as a chaplain at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. In their free time, Sarah, her husband, and her two children like to go on walks with their dog, spend time with their extended family, and go on trips to Vermont. Sarah has been a longtime advocate for children in foster care and hopes to one day welcome foster children into her home. In the meantime, she is very excited to help build the Gifted Crate's program out in western Mass!
Carrie Bishop, Board Member
Carrie has spent the last several years raising her three kids while working part-time in the Direct Sales industry and at a local gym for kids. She is passionate about children and is always organizing events and fun activities for kids in her community. Carrie would love to be able to foster or become a visiting resource for youth in need someday. In the meantime, she’s passionate about being able to celebrate these children through The Gifted Crate.
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