leadership
Our Staff
Our office is staffed by full and part time employees and many, many volunteers who help both in the office and behind the scenes at our special events. Read more about our staff and email them with any questions. Some of our part time employees are not in the office everyday, but they’ll respond as soon as they can. We look forward to hearing from you!
Mariann is a Program Coordinator, a native of Philadelphia, which is where her tough streak comes from, and has been a Registered Nurse for 40 years. She received her R.N. from Fitzgerald-Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, and her B.S. in Psychology from Philadelphia University. She has held a variety of nursing and nursing management positions at Holy Redeemer Health Care System, the University of Washington at Seattle, Oxford Hospital in Philadelphia, and at Fox Rehabilitation Center.
Mariann and her husband, Herb, were the successful proprietors of MaryAnn Pastry Shoppe with locations in Doylestown, Pa, and Sea Isle City, NJ. She is a favorite in the FPS office due to her frequent contributions of powdered donuts, cinnamon buns and other decadent pastries. Mariann and Herb are the parents of nine children (including Founder/President, Marci Schankweiler) and reside in Doylestown and Sea Isle City. She is active in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Doylestown, and St. Joseph’s Church in Sea Isle City.
Carol is our Program Director. She has been a nurse in Oncology and Hospice for many years in Bucks County and finds enjoyment in caring for others. Carol has been married to her high school sweetheart, Tom, for 24 years and has the “Schwind Gang” of 5 children who keep her quite busy when not with us!
Tricia is a Program Coordinator and has been an oncology nurse for 35 years. She has worked in inpatient and outpatient settings as well as an oncology nurse navigator in Philadelphia, Maryland and North Carolina. She and her husband have two grown children. She loves spending time at the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey.
Pam is our Mission Coordinator. Pam is a coal miner’s daughter and is originally from the small western Pennsylvania town of Dayton (It is south of Punxsutawney Phil’s home).
Pam graduated high school with a class size of 57, and enrolled at Penn State University, Main Campus. She graduated Penn State with a degree in Economics, and worked in her field for the first half of her career serving the needs of Penn State, the Borough of Norristown and the Borough of Doylestown in the fields of economic development and grant writing. She then had the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom for her daughters and became a full time volunteer for her church and her daughters’ school, serving on both the Pastoral Council and the Home and School Board. Most recently Pam served as the school secretary at St. Rose of Lima. Pam strives to attend to the needs of our Program Department and office with a smile. Pam’s family includes her husband Bob (who she met on Valentine’s Day in Patee Library at PSU), two adult daughters, Bridget and Christine, and her bulldog, Ernie. Pam and her family enjoy traveling by motor home and have had the chance to visit many sights – Key West to Acadia, Yosemite National Park to Walt Disney World. She also enjoys cooking and baking for her family and friends.
Donna is our Mission Coordinator and her passion for serving others started while caring for grandparents in her childhood home. Her engaging personality enables Donna to naturally develop relationships with volunteers, travelers and supporters of the FPS community. Donna’s favorite vacation memories are the times away with family at the beach – always filled with lots of laughter, action and adventure!
Cheryl is our Chief Philanthropy Officer, and has a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector. She brings to FPS over ten years of experience in special event and volunteer management, campaign and peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate development, donor cultivation, board and committee development and program delivery. She also brings a wealth of experience in baking chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, and in primate behavior as she is a former zoologist! In her free time, she loves to relax with her husband and two children.
Cheryl’s diverse background, attention to detail and commitment to building strong and meaningful relationships ensure that she will treat our donors and corporate partners with the utmost care.
Danielle is our Finance and Operations Officer. She received her MBA from Temple University in 2004 and her B.S. in Accounting from LaSalle University in 1994.
Danielle started off her accounting career by working with two regional public accounting firms and passed the CPA exam, she moved to the private sector to work for PECO Energy in their ventures department. After gaining experience with mergers and acquisitions, Danielle used that experience and was hired as Controller for an importing company where she worked for over 16 years.
Danielle, her husband, Bob, and their three children love the beach and having ice cream for breakfast. When the family is not eating ice cream they are helping organize and participate in the Annual Oreland 5k, in honor of their son Aiden Coyne or watching the kids numerous sporting events throughout the school year.
Amber Mercado, Foundation Relationships and Grants Manager, has been with FPS since August 2006. She is a graduate of La Salle University just like Marci and Pete.
She spends her leisure time singing “Wheels on the Bus” to her three young boys, napping, and reading really intellectual books. She is completely selfless except when it comes to sushi.
Julia is the Cornhole and Community Event Coordinator. She is a graduate of Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ. She Graduated with a B.A. in Public Relations and a minor in Business Relationships and Sales. Before her position at FPS she gained experience working for a public relations firm in NYC.
She grew up in Ambler, PA and is excited to be back in the Philadelphia area to continue her career. Helping others has always been a passion of hers, she is a consistent volunteer of the St. Catherine of Siena Food Pantry helping families of the parish. She was also a member of Tri Sigma Sorority during college where she grew her passion for philanthropy work. She is an avid Philadelphia sports fan and can be found at Eagles tailgates every home game!
Julia Neff is our Development Associate. She is a recent graduate from Arcadia University, and calls South Jersey home. She received a degree in Media & Communication with a concentration in public relations. For 5 summers Julia was the summer camp director for a non-profit in Camden, NJ and it was there that she fell in love with doing work that is meaningful.
Julia loves to adventure, from international travel to local hikes at the Wissahickon. She also has a cat named Rusty and about 25 plants!
Nicole Whalen is our Volunteer Coordinator. She received a Bachelor of Music in Education from Temple University, and has previously worked in the medical field for 6 years before having her 2 boys.
Nicole is a Breast cancer survivor who traveled in January 2022 with FPS and fell in love with the mission, and began volunteering shortly after returning home. She is incredibly excited to join the FPS team and help other families take a break from cancer! Nicole’s family includes her husband Jay, sons Garrett and Miles, daughters Kat and Gabby, a very feisty English Bulldog named Bromley, and 2 spunky guinea pigs named Simba and Cookie. Nicole and her family enjoy camping and spending time at the beach.
Craig Bruno is our Database Manager. He is a New York native, but currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University at Albany, and has over 20 years of nonprofit database experience. His passion is helping nonprofit organizations meet their goals and to help change the world for the better.
Craig’s family includes his wife Hillary, three children Mason, Gracelyn, and Hudson, two cats Ollie and Tigger, and one dog Parker. Craig enjoys spending time with his family, attending concerts, off-roading in his Jeep, and traveling.
Amy is our Director of Corporate and Strategic Partnerships. She is a graduate of Villanova University with a B.A. in English. Amy spent the lion’s share of her career working in and around Higher Education Institutions. While the impact of education has been front-and-center, service to others has always been at the bedrock of her vocation. Building relationships and collecting people’s stories creates such meaning and fulfillment that the impact feels like anything but work – it’s a blessing.
Amy is a proud native of Conshohocken, an avid lover of dogs, and she never met a carbohydrate she didn’t like! Bocce, tennis, pickleball, and golf are go-to activities and the Philly hometown teams are always of interest (even when they can’t catch a break). Amy’s favorite hobby is spending time on art projects.
Kristin is our Marketing & Communications Manager. She is a graduate of West Chester University and grew up in a small town in Central Pennsylvania. Kristin brings with her experience in marketing, communications, fundraising, and events in both for-profit and non-profit sectors.
She currently resides in Havertown with her husband, 2 kids, 2 cats, and a dog. When not busy chasing around animals and kids, she enjoys walking while listening to podcasts, reading, Starbucks lattes, and her (very!) guilty pleasure, reality television. Her passion for making a difference is what brought her to FPS and she is excited to get to know the community.
Cristine is our Director of Annual Giving. She has over 20 years of experience serving the nonprofit healthcare community in various fundraising and community program roles as an employee and volunteer. She finds that discovering and utilizing other’s strengths is vital to creating impactful volunteer relationships and she loves helping donors connect their passions to fulfill the mission of FPS.
Marci Kuttler Bossow Schankweiler (say that 5 times fast) is currently Founder and CEO of For Pete’s Sake Cancer Respite Foundation, which she started with her late husband, Peter R. Bossow, in 1999. In her tenure as President, Marci, with her team of employees, volunteers and colleagues, has solicited funds to support the organization’s goal of providing respite experiences to adult cancer patients and their caregivers. Thousands have benefited from the life-altering services that FPS offers.
Marci’s level of energy and enthusiasm leads many to question if she is, in fact, a human being. Her staff is fairly sure that she knows a secret and has found a way to inject more than 24 hours into each of her days.
Before the inception of FPS, Marci practiced law in the Philadelphia firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman and Goggin and at the Law Office of Thaddeus Mikulski in Trenton, NJ. Yes, you read that correctly. She left a lucrative career in law in order to give her time, talent and money to FPS. She has never regretted the decision, but becomes nervous when she thinks about ways to fund her daughters’ college careers.
She is active in her local community and can often be found at her family’s bakery business in Sea Isle City, NJ and Doylestown, PA. She was an adjunct professor in the Communications Department of LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA and in the College of Business from The College of New Jersey. Marci is an alumna of Mt. St. Joseph Academy and pursued a teaching degree in Mathematics from LaSalle University, where she later became an honorary brother of the Sigma Phi Lambda Fraternity and enjoyed rowing on the crew team. She attended Temple University Law School and completed her law degree in 1995. She later received an LLM in Taxation in May, 1998, also from Temple University Law School.
Marci was raised in Doylestown, PA and is the oldest of nine children. Marci’s siblings and their spouses are always on hand to fund the majority of FPS’s live and silent auctions – with only minor pleading from Marci. Marci has remarried. She currently resides in North Wales, PA, with her husband, Mark (a man with great and unrelenting patience), and their two daughters, Maura Grace and Rose Marie, who are both honorary FPS staff members.
FPS is Marci’s passion and she enjoys spreading this passion wherever she goes! Today, she enjoys sharing her story and the many entrepreneurial lessons she has learned in her presentation, Pause on Purpose.
