Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Laurie Rhodes with me. Welcome, Laurie.
Laurie Rhodes: Thank you.
Toni: Laurie, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Laurie: I am the founder of The Wellness Center for Pets and Their People. We’re a small grassroots movement that services Berks and Southern Schuylkill County. It started as a mobile pet food pantry, giving pet food and pet supplies to people in need, whether they’re elderly, whether they’re veterans, homeless, low income, fixed income, all walks of life.
A lot of what we service are people that could be you, could be me. They have lost a job or are injured on the job. They’re falling through the cracks of the system. They’ve had a medical crisis. They’ve lost a spouse. Their pet is their everything to them. For a lot, it’s their lifeline.
The reality is, in aiding the pet, you are aiding them. From that, we’ve expanded. We do clothing giveaways, in particular for children. We also try to have children’s books and children’s crafts and activity books. All that as we’ve seen the need. We give toiletries away. We do necessities like toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning products, because if you don’t have an income or you have a fixed income, how do you get those things? We’re trying to fill in voids that are lacking in the area.
From that, other programs have developed. It’s much, much more than just those physical — that $5 of pet food, that bar of soap, that shirt you’re giving, it’s the act of kindness. It’s the compassion. It’s love you’re showing somebody. It’s acknowledging that somebody matters. It’s become much more…we do a transitional boarding program where if someone’s in a temporary crisis, they don’t have to surrender their pet to a kill shelter.
One of our projects we just finished, we did fundraising for a man who in the storms in May, a tree fell on his camper, which was his permanent residence. He’s a 74-year-old veteran. He needed someplace to live, so we did an online auction, which we were able to purchase a camper for him and have some more funds for him for additional bills. There’s a lot more besides just the mobile pet food pantry that we do.
Toni: You’ve got a lot of stuff going on. I mean, you want to talk about giving back, it sounds like that’s what this is all about. We’re honored to have you on the Get Inspired! Project.
Laurie: Thank you.
Toni: You’re welcome. Let’s go into the first question. What does inspiration mean to you?
Laurie: I think inspiration is that passion, that gut instinct, that nudge from the universe that for me, inspiration can be found in many different avenues. It’s to be of service; to heed your calling. I can get inspiration from nature. I can get inspiration from people that are doing, that are being of service. I pet sit for a living, and watching a dog — a dog is in the moment. They’re mindful. They’re listening. They’re reacting to that wind blowing in the trees. There’s inspiration there. They’re living in the moment. Animals, the unconditional love, they’re just pure examples of how I feel we should be living our lives.
Toni: Do you believe that those who…you said being in service is inspirational. Watching other people’s reactions is inspirational. You said you also are called to do things. Is that calling inspirational?
Laurie: It is. It is indeed. That calling, oftentimes, 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, I’m nudged awake, inspired by something that needs to happen or something that needs to be done; so yes. The people we serve are probably the biggest inspiration for me as far as people that have nothing or little are the most giving, kindest, because they’ve been there. They know. Most of them have the largest hearts of anyone.
Toni: You’ve given us a brief insight, I think, example, into how you apply inspiration. So, now you are moved. You’ve been inspired, whether it’s in the middle of the night or during the day. Can you give us an example of how you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Laurie: Certainly. We’re out there. You have again, people that are in need. My volunteers are the biggest inspirations who come out there and are out there to aid people. Simple things like what my volunteers do besides giving their biggest asset of time, they also will purchase products that people need. Somebody might have a specific need, and it’s an animal that needs a specific brand of food. It’s not that they’re being picky. There may be a health concern. My volunteers put hundreds upon hundreds of dollars out of their pocket into aiding people, and to watch them work — and we’re 100 percent volunteer operated — to watch them work and see the love that they’re giving these people, the time that they take to listen to people, it’s all just very inspiring.
Toni: You identify a need, or one appears to you, and then it could be providing the simplest of essentials to somebody, or for animals, correct?
Laurie: Correct.
Toni: Then, you go to action, and you try to do the best you can to fulfill that need.
Laurie: Correct.
Toni: Okay. That is how you are returning the inspiration into Berks County here. You are absolutely giving back.
Laurie: Yes.
Toni: Okay. That’s awesome. Who in Berks County inspires you?
Laurie: Again, I have to say the people we service. Those who have nothing, yet remain so grateful and are quick to express their gratitude. My volunteers. I have an 8-year-old boy who comes out every month. To be 8 years old and recognize that there is a need and to be of service is to me just unbelievable. To have a mother that instills that in him and nurtures that beautiful soul is just incredible.
Three women in particular that I would say that I am inspired by are women who selflessly give and give with nonprofits in Berks. One is Paula Althouse, who has Greytful Hearts Greyhound Rescue out of Hamburg. She runs that solely by herself. It’s her passion. She also rescues mules and horses, but she does it by herself, 24/7. She has children. She has a grandchild, and yet she devotes her life. That’s the kind of person that inspires me to want to do more, to be better, and to give back.
Dr. Jennifer Fry, the Vet on Main in Birdsboro, she also has Fairchild Feral Friends Foundation. She selflessly gives and gives and gives. She inspires me. These women too are quick to give words of encouragement. They’re just very inspirational.
The other is Kyle Lord, who has Keystone Military Families in Shoemakersville, who started her organization out of her home and tirelessly gives and gives, and does not get involved in the politics and personalities that a lot of larger organizations get involved in, and I admire that. She works selflessly to aid veterans, families of those deployed, and is having a great mark on the county.
Toni: What would you like your legacy to be?
Laurie: I hope that even in the small acts — I think we get caught up in, “I can't make a difference, because I’m only one person and I can only do this little bit.” We fail to recognize that those little acts can mean the world to someone, and can be life-changing for someone. Just acknowledging someone. Just speaking a kind word. I hope that in all my encounters that I am doing that. I’m making a small difference for the people I encounter.
Toni: Well, as I say many, many times in these interviews that people oftentimes do not realize that they are living their legacies. Legacies are made every day. Every hour of every day.
I will add a personal note here, which I rarely do during the legacy piece, that as far as you living your legacy for the people who are reading or listening to this Project, I came back from losing my father. I think I was a day or two after he had passed, and one of the things that you do is you show up…like just show up…and hand out angels and roses and just say, “Here. For some reason, I want you to have this.” It was the day that I came back after just burying my father. It moved me that it almost took me down. For that, you are living your legacy, and I thank you for living your legacy, and thank you for being here today.
Laurie: Thank you.
