Nicole is a William and Mary student. She started volunteering at Heritage Humane Society in August of 2018. In the time she has been at the shelter, she has made a HUGE impact in the lives of the pets in our care. She is always willing to help and her positive attitude always makes the staff and animals at the shelter all the happier.

She has volunteered at many offsite events and fundraisers. Oftentimes she volunteers to bring an adoptable dog to these events. She is great with all the animals at the shelter and has helped get multiple dogs adopted by taking them on doggy adventures out of the shelter. Below are some words from Nicole.

What is your favorite part of volunteering?

My favorite part of working offsites is seeing how much love the dogs receive from the public AND bring to the public! You can tell how happy the dogs are to have a day out to meet new people, and they in return make people smile with their infectious energy and charisma. I think my favorite offsite has been the Busch Garden’s weekends – we were able to welcome in all the visitors, and one of the guests loved the dog I brought so much that he called the shelter to make an appointment for the very next day. It makes me so happy to be a part of that. 

Why did you start volunteering at Heritage Humane Society?

I always was fond of animals, but I didn’t have a car until college so I couldn’t be involved in my local shelter back home. Only juniors and seniors are technically allowed to have cars at W&M, but I wanted to volunteer at Heritage so much that I applied for a special exception pass. I will be graduating this semester, but I am so glad that I reached out to Jennifer and worked out the details. I was so keen to join that I drove down 3 hours just to attend the volunteer orientation session and then drove back home the same day. 

How has your work with Heritage Humane Society impacted your life?

Working with HHS has been my favorite extracurricular. When school would get stressful, I could always come to enjoy fresh air on a walk with some canine company. I also really like feeling that by volunteering and taking dogs on offsite events, I can help impact two lives – the dogs, and their future adopters. It’s awesome when I meet people at events who say “We adopted from Heritage X years ago, and we love her so much!” I think volunteering with such a great staff and other volunteers has made the experience extremely fulfilling. 

Do you have pets at home?

My family has a little white Maltese/poodle (maltipoo) mix, and his name is Parker. We took him in when a family couldn’t keep him anymore. He is super smart and super spoiled and loves to sit on my lap. He is always so excited to see me when I visit home! I attached a picture just because he is so cute.