Name: Photos with Santa
Start: 2026-12-13T13:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-12-13T15:00:00-05:00
Location: Red Creek Wildlife Center

Meet Our Staff

Red Creek has a full house of wonderful staff who have dedicated their lives to our mission of providing a second chance to wildlife. Whether they are helping the public determine what to do when they come across an animal, providing medical care to injured wildlife, spending sleepless nights providing round-the-clock care to orphaned wild babies, or educating the public and other wildlife professionals during a program or event, they ensure that Red Creek is there for those in need.

Peggy Hentz – Founder and Director: Peggy Hentz is the founder and executive director of Red Creek Wildlife Center, Inc. (1991). A licensed wildlife rehabilitator, educator, and author, she has spent her career advancing the care and understanding of native wildlife. Peggy serves on the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation and Education Advisory Council to the Pennsylvania Game Commission and has helped shape state-level standards for wildlife rehabilitators, including certification programs for threatened and endangered species and wildlife capture and transport training programs used in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is the author of Rescuing Wildlife: A Guide to Injured and Orphaned Animals, Raising the Neonatal Cottontail, and several children’s books. Peggy’s current mission is to help others in Pennsylvania become licensed in wildlife rehabilitation and open facilities in the Commonwealth. Having stepped back from the day to day animal care at Red Creek’s clinic, Peggy now focuses on one of the most challenging species to rehabilitate, the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit.

Kaley Egan – Clinic Manager and Head Rehabilitator: Kaley began her Red Creek journey as a Level 1 intern in 2017 and Level 2 intern in 2019. She joined the team as a full-time staff member in 2020, becoming a licensed rehabilitator in 2021. Since then she has worked tirelessly to streamline animal care and inventory. Besides her wonderful work coordinating interns and volunteers, managing social media posts, and running the day-to-day of the clinic, she specializes in the care of raccoons, turtles, and canid species. Kaley may be contacted at kaley@redcreekwildlifecenter.com

Greg Nason – Head Rehabilitator: Greg joined Red Creek in 2009, working his way up from a temporary employee to the full-time head rehabilitator he is now. Greg brings nearly two decades of experience with wildlife to the team, specializing in raptor care, fawns, and wild felids.

Lylee Leonard – Director of Public Programming and Rehabilitation Assistant: Lylee started at Red Creek in 2020, beginning as a level 1 intern until she was hired on as a full-time rehabilitation assistant in 2022. In 2023, she began to learn the ins and outs of programming and public education, eventually taking over the public programming director position in 2024. When not coordinating educational events and programs, Lylee spends her time in the clinic promoting animal welfare by training ambassador and resident animals, and keeping up with enrichment schedules. She also specializes in bat rehabilitation, with additional focuses on skunks, squirrels, and small rodent species. Lylee may be contacted regarding educational events and programs onsite, offsite, and virtually at: (570) 739-4393 ext. 4 or lylee@redcreekwildlifecenter.com

Jelena Rutter – Rehabilitation Assistant: Jelena completed a Level 1 and 2 internship from 2022-2023. She was hired on in 2024 to be a temporary summer rehabilitation assistant, but was hired as a full-time employee later that year. Since joining Red Creek, she has developed species focuses on Virginia opossums, cottontails, ducks, and fawns. She focuses on diagnostic protocols and large mammal training techniques, specifically cooperative care techniques with our resident fox species. Jelena also heads our fundraising committee. She can be reached regarding fundraising campaigns, events, and partnerships at: jelena@redcreekwildlifecenter.com

Maya Berger – Rehabilitation Assistant: Maya joined Red Creek in 2022, completing her level 1 internship. After her Level 2 internship in 2023, Maya took a short break from Red Creek, focusing on completing her bachelor’s degree in biology and starting in a Master’s program in biology. She rejoined Red Creek as a temporary rehabilitation assistant in 2025, and is now our newest full-time employee after graduating this year! Maya’s species of focus include songbirds, amphibians, and Virginia opossums. Maya is also part of our fundraising committee.

Cyndi Semmel – Part-time Rehabilitation Assistant: Cyndi joined Red Creek as a staff member in 2022, after volunteering for several years. Her role encompasses assisting staff with cage cleaning, diet preparation, and monitoring animal health. She also assists with fundraising, helping to plan and staff events.

Volunteers and Interns

In addition to staff, Red Creek relies on volunteers and interns to handle the high volume of animals needing help. Volunteers assist staff with countless tasks from cleaning cages to prepping food. Interns also help staff with medical care, performing intakes, and assisting members of the public who come to us for help. This is especially crucial during our busy summer season. Red Creek receives and average of over 4,000 animals each year, most of which arrive during the summer. Many of these are infants requiring round the clock care, or animals dealing with extreme injuries and illnesses. Summer interns make it possible for Red Creek to remain open to intakes all year long. With this in mind, we want to highlight some of the wonderful volunteers who help us help animals. Join us in thanking our October Volunteer of the Month: Emma! Emma first came to us as a level 1 intern in 2024. She came back as a level 2 intern the following year, and has stuck with Red Creek ever since. She returned to help us out durin

g school breaks, and has been a consistent volunteer since graduating this year. Emma says she has a hard time choosing one favorite thing about Red Creek, but she highlighted her top three for us. This included building connections with resident animals, working with the staff/volunteer/intern teams each year, and watching animals grow and finally get released back where they belong. Emma is hard-working, dedicated, and detail-oriented. She is always willing to help with whatever staff needs, from intakes to cleaning to organizing the kitchen. Thank you for everything, Emma!

Our Sponsors

We could not do what we do without the generous support of our donors and sponsors. Here we highlight a few of our most faithful sponsors, whose continued assistance with our mission makes us consider them a part of our team!

We would like to make special mention of the help we receive from the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Company.

Andrew Muller, an avid conservationist and supporter of wildlife, has given his support to us continually

The Reading & Northern Railroad Company, located in Port Clinton, PA, covers one-half of Red Creek’s operating expenses annually, and they have done so for the past six years.

Why do they support us? Because they know that Red Creek will be there when an animal emergency happens!

Whether it is an injured deer on the track or a foundling owl on the wayside, Red Creek has been available to help, 365 days a year.

They also know that the passion and dedication our founder, Peggy Hentz, brought to the organization, is the driving force today. to wildlife and our missions

And they know that their investment is going toward our missions. Red Creek’s thrifty and responsible budget ensures that 85% of funds goes directly toward our missions, using only a small portion for necessary organizational costs.

Our many thanks to Andy and Carol Muller, and all of the employees of the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Company.

The Botstiber Clinic at Red Creek Wildlife Center

Our updated clinic has an admission lobby, intensive care unit, treatment area, X-ray and diagnostics laboratory, office, an increased number of animal care rooms and enclosures, and an after-hours drop-off room. We are equipped to rehabilitate all species of Pennsylvania wildlife except bears and adult deer.

Many thanks to the Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation for making the construction of the wildlife rehabilitation clinic possible.

The Carol and Andy Muller Training Center at Red Creek Wildlife Center

The training center is part nature center, part classroom. Special events and training classes are available in this area which is also open on weekends for the public to enjoy.

Many thanks to Carol and Andy Muller for over a decade of monthly support, and many thanks to the Shaner Family and S&S Leasing for constructing the training center.