Tara Furlough, President

Tara Furlough currently serves as CEO of Tara Manufacturing. She is one of the owners and has been employed with the family business for twenty two years. She also serve as Vice-President of another company started  ten years ago with her husband Larry Furlough called Furlough Land Company, LLC., which invests in real estate. She is also in ownership of a company formed three years ago that manufactures spas covers - Classic Spa Covers, LLC. She currently serves on the Women's business council thru The Huntsville Chamber of Business. She has also volunteered thru the WBCNA  thru the business chamber, as a business coach, helping entrepreneurs start up new companies. She has served on The CARE Center board for the past three years.

Tara is married to Larry Furlough and has two daughters, Savana (10) and Tayler (12).  Both girls attend school locally which is, in part, why Tara is so passionate to make a lasting and impacting difference to the communities we serve.
 

Lane Wilson, Vice President

Lane has served on the CARE Center Executive Board since 2010 and most recently served as the President of the Executive Board in 2011.  He has lived in Huntsville for 13 years after growing up in Montgomery and Clarke County, Alabama.  Lane graduated from Huntingdon College, Montgomery, AL in 1990 with a BA in English with a minor in History.  July of 2012 will mark his 17th year as a financial adviser.  His current role is Vice President, Financial Adviser with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney where some of Lane's specialties are wealth management, portfolio management, retirement planning, small and medium size business retirement plan management and tax preferred investment strategies.  Lane has also served on the Hampton Cove Owners Board of Directors, acted as Co-Chair of the Huntsville Ducks Unlimited Chapter and volunteered at the Eastern League as assistant softball coach.  Lane is married to the former Julie Prince of Gadsden, Alabama for 15 years and together they have four daughters, Anna Paige (13), Catherine (11), Emily (9) and Josie (4). Together, they all attend Willowbrook Baptist Church in Jones Valley.
 
Lane became interested in the CARE Center because of his upbringing in a small town which is similar in size to the communities we serve. He recognizes the importance of people in these communities having a faith based resource to partner with. Sometimes community resources (ie schools, churches and local state agencies) are unable to serve the various needs of our neighbors.  The CARE Center is a place where God can fill that void as He sees fit. Seeing the swift power of Gods hand is amazing.

Joanne Kennedy, Secretary

Joanne has been serving at the CARE Center since 2005.  She works in the Food Pantry, leads the Financial Assistance Team, serves in the Sisters of Faith and the Thrift Store's Recovery ministries.  She has tutored at New Hope Elementary and was the previous tutor coordinator for the CARE Center.  Joanne states that she worked for the Federal Goverment  as a civil servant for 37 1/2 years and retired from the Apache Helicopter Program as a Business Manager.  She truly believes that she is following God's retirement plan for her by serving others. She is married to Bob Kennedy, has 2 sons, 1 daughter and 5 grandchildren, who are the best thing that ever happened to her.  Bob is also retired and they enjoy playing golf and traveling together.

Vicki Cather, Treasurer

Vicki is married to Mark Cather and was born and raised on a farm in northern Delaware.  After retiring from State Farm Insurance and moving to FL, she felt called to assist the elderly. While in FL she was active with Meals on Wheels and FISH, a non-profit, transportation service organization for the elderly. Since moving to Alabama 3 years ago, she has continued serving through Meals on Wheels, volunteering at the CARE Center and assisting with Angel Food Ministries at New Hope UMC.

Her calling comes from her paraphrase of Luke 12:48 - "To those that much is given, much is required". My paraphrase is - 'To those that much is forgiven, much is required'.  The Lord has given me life, so I try to give some light to the lives of those I meet through these organizations.

Devin Whitaker

Devin Whitaker has served on the Care Center Executive Board since 2011.  Devin is native of New Hope, Alabama and his family has resided in this area since the early to mid- 1800s.  He is a graduate of New Hope High School and also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration (BSBA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).  Devin has over 25+ years of Department of Defense (DoD) weapon system acquisition, technical project management and executive leadership experience with both Government and industry organizations. He currently owns and operates several local small businesses such as Strata-G Solutions Inc., Strata Form Inc. and other successful corporations. 

Devin, along with his wife of 24 years, Beth and their two children Dustin and Dalton are very involved in various church, community, and charitable organizations.  Devin is actively involved within the Huntsville/Madison County community, local charities, serves as a Deacon at Center Baptist Church and also teaches Youth Sunday School.   Devin believes in giving back...giving back to his corporate customers, giving back to employees, giving back to his community and giving back to support God’s work.  Devin’s attitude has always been built upon a faith-based philosophy of "where much is given, much is required" and "giving" is a key cornerstone of Devin and the Whitaker family. 

Marynell Cole

Executive Board member, Marynell Cole, has served on the board since 2011.  Marynell calls herself retired and enjoys being a housewife after many years in the business world.  She was a local hotel general manager before opening her own retail business, the Magnolia Marketplace, a successful home interiors and gifts store in the Huntsville area for 16 years. 

The CARE Center ministries and community involvement are especially meaningful to Marynell who was born and raised in New Hope.  She truly loves giving back to the hometown of her family for generations, volunteering in several CC ministries, and programs.

Marynell and husband William have four children and three grandchildren and are charter members of Cove United Methodist Church.  Besides volunteering at the CARE Center and Cove Church, Marynell enjoys traveling, gardening, making memories with family and friends and playing with the grandchildren.

Steve Willhelm

Steve Willhelm joined Five Stones Research Corporation in May of 2010 after 22 years of military service.  He currently serves as the company President and represents 5SRC to industry partners and major customers.  His responsibilities include the overall performance of program contracts and success of the company.  Mr Willhelm functions as the driver of the corporate strategy to achieve its mission statement and promotes the company's core values, corporate objectives and quality statement.

Mr. Willhelm’s professional education includes Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), a Level III certification in Project Management and the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.  Steve holds a Masters of Business Administration from Jacksonville State University, a Master’s of Science from Naval Postgraduate School, and a Masters of Military Art and Science from the Air War College.

Steve is married to the former Leigh Reynolds of Jacksonville, AL.  They have two children, Gabrielle Alexis, 16, who is a 11th Grader at Huntsville High School and Bryce Taylor, 13 who is a 7th Grader at Hampton Cove Middle.

Jason Cribbet

Jason has served since 2008 by providing Information Technology assistance in support of the online presence and constituent management of the CARE Center. For the past 12 years, Jason has developed software for multiple Department of Defense programs and most recently, he has focused on the development of business solutions to manage the information architecture and content management platforms for federal, commercial, and non-profit clients. Throughout his college and on into his career, Jason has always had a passion for IT and the possibilities it offers.

As Jason continues to walk with God, he believes that it is important to give back to the local community by providing IT support to non-profits that might not have the resources necessary to fulfill their needs. By helping these organizations with their IT efforts, it allows them to utilize their financial resources towards programs that are part of their direct mission. As part of this walk, over the past couple of years, Jason and his wife have been supporters of the CARE Center and the mission that it stands for by providing technical support wherever possible. 

Jason, a Florida native, moved to Huntsville in 2006 and discovered a close-knit community setting in which to raise his family, with his wife Lori, and their three children. 

Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson has worked in the field of educational technology for over fifteen years, spending the last ten years working in NASA Education (contractor with Oklahoma State University). Throughout his career he has experienced working with many different technologies; including: website design, social networking and communication systems, video editing, and many other multimedia tools. Scott is exceptionally excited to be on the Executive Board of The CARE Center because it has a direct impact on the community in which he lives, with wife Isabelle and his two children (Lindsey, 14 and Max, 12). Since their birth, Scott has been involved with community enrichment programs that, in some way, impacted the community. Some of the roles have included: technology workshop presenter, (every kind of) coach, soccer director, after-school club leader (including CARE Center clubs), and more.  Scott thoroughly believes it is a responsibility to help support the community and has tried to contribute in many ways over the years.  He was raised and confirmed in the Lutheran Church and believes having faith in your life is important because it helps provide guidance, support, and a network of other believers.