Youth for the Future: Giovanna Lawrence

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A local high schooler is volunteering her early Saturday mornings at the Berkshire Humane Society. 

Fifteen-year-old Giovanna Lawrence attends to Lenox Memorial High School, where she currently plays soccer, but on weekends, she wants to help the animals waiting for a new home.

Lawrence has been volunteering her time with her dad for about a year, wanting to make sure the animals feel loved.

"I come in and I help with the dogs. So I take them on a walk first, and then I clean their kennels and give them new water and toys," she said. "And then after all of the chores are done, I always like to go in and say hi and make sure that they feel some sort of love."

After walking the dogs, she cleans out their kennels and gives them more attention.

Canine supervisor Stacey Broderick oversees Lawrence and said it's a very important job that she does.

"It's a very important part of our day, and she comes in every single Saturday without fail and does a wonderful job," she said. "Not only doing the chores and taking care of what needs to be done, but also spending time with the animals and giving them some extra love after all the chores are taken care of, which we are incredibly grateful for, because there's only so many people, but always a lot of dogs."

Lawrence said she has always been fond of animals even though a lot of fur might make her allergies act up, she doesn't mind.

She has been attending the camps with the shelter since she was little and was happy to get the chance to finally help them. The shelter use to run Camp Humane, an education program during the summer for Grades 3 to 5. 

"I feel like animals have always kind of been a huge part of my life, and I've been doing the camp here since I was really little. So I've always wanted to be a volunteer here, and finally, I'm so glad that I got the opportunity," Lawrence said. 

Broderick said the shelter needs volunteers to help in more ways than one with the shelter pets.

"Our volunteers are so incredibly important. It's just as many humans as we can get in here because not only is it awesome for the dogs to have extra time for people to come in and spend with them, but it also gives them a lot of outlets as far as meeting new people, and then we see how they interact with new people, and it's absolutely indescribably helpful to have our volunteers," Broderick said.

Lawrence also said her love for animals has her considering pursuing a career as a veterinarian, and that volunteering at the shelter is a perfect place to start.

"I've always wanted to be a veterinarian as a career, and so I think this is a huge step in that process. And I'm really excited that I get to like have more experience with the animals and just really confirm that career for myself," she said.

While all of her volunteers are great, Broderick said Lawrence has a drive and passion that shows up in her volunteer hours.

"She's got this passion for animals that I don't always see ... But the fact that she comes in, she asks questions, she's interested in learning, she very much wants to do everything that she can to make the animals happy, healthy," she said. "There have been a couple instances where she's seen some some dogs that are not necessarily always doing so well here in the kennel environment, and asking questions of staff and just getting a little bit more insight into what she can do to help. ...

"I'm hoping that this will be a good stepping stone for her in the future to go into the veterinary field and potentially help with getting getting to where she wants to be in the future and we're grateful to be a part of that, too."

Lawrence said she is incredibly grateful for the Humane Society letting her come in and help. 

"I just really want to support all the animals and make sure that all the animals who come in here know that they have a safe place here and feel loved, even if they didn't come from the best situations. So I'm just trying to make their experience here the best possible," Lawrence said.

Youth for the Future is a 12-month series that honors young individuals who are making an impact on their community. This year's sponsor is Patriot Car Wash. Nominate a youth here. 

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