Tom Burke stands in front of the training room at North Shore Animal League America and distributes the handouts for the volunteer dog walking class. At the same time, he and Maria D’Agostino talk about their experiences with the dogs on the Port Washington, NY campus. Their smiles light up the room.
Every other Friday, without fail, Jennifer and Arianna Levine can be seen selecting puppies at North Shore Animal League America for their visits to the Queens Centers for Progress as part of our Shelter Pet Outreach Team (SPOT). They say that they wouldn’t want to spend these two days any other way — they get to bring puppies to people who need their warmth and comfort and brighten their day.
Jill Marcus first thought about volunteering five years ago when her last cat passed away. Jill felt that she wanted to put her “animal energy into helping homeless cats and getting them adopted” rather than having more pets of her own. Today, Jill makes a real difference by spending quality time with our rescued cats.
Kathy has a need to “nurture.” As a nurse, she’d worked in a pediatric office for many years and now she’s a technician with Northwell Health®, New York State’s largest health system. She knew she wanted to help medically needy dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens when she applied to be a volunteer at North Shore Animal League America in 2016.
David has been a volunteer at North Shore Animal League America for more than 14 years and hardly misses a week. David will do anything if it’ll help homeless dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens.
“I love being a part of the Volun-TEEN program because it offers me the chance to work with animals and also meet new people my age! I’ve made many friends through the program. We work together to make sure we are getting the job done correctly.” - Samantha Rothstein, Volunteer since 2017.
“I owe Animal League America for all my wonderful cats through the years. I thought to myself that I wanted to be that person who helped someone like me.” - Kathryn St. Juste, Volunteer since 2011.
Two lifesaving programs, The Foster Program and Pet Sponsorship Program, provide Sadie Mae, a young Beagle with special needs, the care, compassion and a loving family of her own.
“I take a lot of pride in working with the dogs who need it the most. Since many of these animals are with us for significant periods of time, I have the opportunity to build strong relationships with some of them. This allows me to teach them important skills that will give them a better quality of life in the long run.” - Debby Rightmyer, Volunteer since 2005.
“I take a lot of pride in getting to know the cats and putting them into the best situations as possible. It’s certainly a nice perk of being a volunteer.” - Robert Winterton, Volunteer since 2015.