Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Leann Quire.
Leann Quire: Thank you for having me.
Toni: So, Leann, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Leann: My name is Leann Quire. I’m the Operations Director at the Humane Society of Berks County. I’ve been there for the past four years in a management position, but I’ve been there for a total of 10 years. I started as a technician through a co-op program in high school, worked my way through college, graduated with my BS in biology, stepped away for a little bit to work at an animal emergency facility, and then my heart just was always with shelter work, so I found my way back to the Humane Society of Berks County, and that’s where I’ve been. I have a husband of two years, Kenny, and I have two cats and a silly dog named Moose. He is a pug/corgi mix, who is the love of my life. We recently bought a house, so apart from work, that is always taking up all of my time. We are now focusing on getting our house ready.
Toni: Wow. Well, thank you for showing up.
Leann: Yes.
Toni: Well, let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Leann: You know, I was thinking about this. I think inspiration is something that we use regularly as a term, and we almost take for granted when we sit down to actually think about it. It was a loaded question for me. I almost got emotional while I was thinking about it, because I don’t think I realized how much inspiration really has to do with the shelter world, but it does. It has everything to do with it, because the shelter world is very difficult for everybody. The workers, the community that has to either go there to adopt and see all the sad animals looking at them, or the people that have the heartbreaking, they run into having to get rid of their animals, and that’s why we’re there, but it’s a tough world to be in, and without inspiration I think that it just wouldn’t be able to run how it does.
Inspiration, getting back to the actual question, I feel that it is a combination of a spiritual feeling mixed with motivation and an overall greater feeling to make things better and just to help those around you and yourself as kind of a combination of those things. I think it’s a noun and a verb. I think that you not only have to feel the inspiration within you, but you have to act on it, and I think that’s where I really got tied to the whole world inspiration. I just feel that so much comes because of that feeling that it makes the world a better place.
Toni: What an amazing answer that was. Seriously.
Leann: Rambled on.
Toni: No, not at all. So, do you know when you’re inspired?
Leann: Yes and no. I think that the best inspiration comes when you don’t really acknowledge it right away. It starts a little bit in you and then it hits you all at once after I think you’ve processed different things. I think you acknowledge when you’re hit with inspiration, but maybe not at that moment, if that makes sense.
Toni: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Leann: I know I feel inspired, but then I’m like, “Wow! That actually started when I had this feeling or I ran into this person who really inspired me, but maybe I didn’t understand that at the moment.”
Toni: So it’s a possibility that was hanging out there, and then you went after that possibility.
Leann: Yes.
Toni: But it was the inspiration that created the possibility.
Leann: Absolutely. Yes.
Toni: Alright. That’s pretty darn cool. So when you take all of this when you’re inspired, how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Leann: Again, at a shelter, that consumes a lot of my life because it’s a passion of mine. It’s not just a job. It’s a career and a lifestyle. I feel that for inspiring people in the community, especially at my line of work, a lot of it comes from inspiring my staff members, because if I can inspire them, then that will, in turn, help the community. We do that every day. I inspire my staff members to focus on the care of the animals and be so dedicated and so loving and kind and just caring about every single one that comes through our door, and then use that to help educate the people that walk in our door, whether it’s to surrender, or to adopt, or just ask question. The staff member, their goal is to help them in whatever way.
It’s not just the people that want to adopt. We don’t just turn a blind eye to the people that want to surrender. We want to help them, too. We want to make sure that we’re letting them know that we are not there to judge. We are there to be of service to them, and if we can show that kindness to them, then that will inspire them to hopefully maybe the next time they run into a situation with an animal, it can help inspire them to do better next time or to just have the education to do a better job or just a different job or different things. I feel that it starts with me inspiring my staff to just be good people and just not let the negativity that comes through our doors every single day get to them so that they can show the people how much they care.
Toni: How do you fill that inspiration bucket up for yourself?
Leann: Oh, goodness, it is hard. It is hard. There’s obviously dry spells, but what I do is I really focus on there’s always cases that take an extra special place in your heart, and I know for me, it was a lot of animal cases where I didn’t think that they were going to make it out or they had really troublesome backgrounds and we worried that it was past the point of fixing or at least managing and a miracle happened, and our hard work paid off, and they did make it out.
I know there’s a special dog to me, and that it was pretty much that same case. We did not think he would make it out. It just wasn’t looking good, and we worked with him and worked with him, and we got him out. The family still has him, and they bring him to every one of our events. They send me Christmas cards. They send pictures. I have his Christmas card right by my desk, so when I’m feeling that lack of inspiration or just a little, we’ll just say frumpy, I look at that picture and it just brings back all the inspiration that flooded me during that time.
There’s many more cases like that, but it’s those really special ones that I have to just remind myself of to keep going. I know that if I can't inspire myself, I’m not going to be able to inspire my staff. I do have to self-care and self-motivate and try to sometimes reach that inspiration and not just wait for it to come.
Toni: And walk the talk.
Leann: Yes. Yes.
Toni: Walk the talk.
Leann: Yes. Absolutely.
Toni: So who in Berks County inspires you?
Leann: Well, this was something again I thought long and hard about, but it actually came to me very easily. Debbie Dreisbach is a very active member of the cat community in Berks County. She used to work at the Humane Society. She started probably around when I first started as a technician years and years ago, and then during her time there, she worked at our front desk. She really understood the need for trap/neuter/release assistance in the community. There really wasn’t any help with that. There was not even education, and she realized we needed that, because there were so many kittens coming in.
Those kittens were coming to us because there’s so many cats in the community that aren’t spayed and neutered, and they just reproduce and reproduce and reproduce, and that becomes a problem for the shelter, because then all of those cats are brought in to us, and we just don’t have room for all of them. There’s just not enough homes for them. It’s heartbreaking. Nobody wants to see a kitten that they can't find a home for. It’s devastating. She took that, and it inspired her to figure out what needed to happen. She paired up with a group called No Nonsense Neutering, and she was able to bring them to Berks County. I wish I had the date. It was a couple years ago, but they’ve been going strong for at least three years now, I believe it’s been, and we can see a difference in the shelter.
She is there when we need her. When we have a feral cat come in that we can't rehabilitate, we can't touch ourselves, she’ll come and she’ll take them and spay and neuter and she’ll find proper placement for them. She helps us with kittens when we get some kittens in. She has been trying to steer away from that and more towards the focus on the community cats, but she will help us with kittens. This is not her career. She has a full-time job that has nothing to with animals that helps pay her bills, but she truly works full-time on her own time volunteer base to just help wherever she can. I think anybody that is involved in pretty much animal welfare in Berks County probably has an idea of who she is, because she just, by word of mouth, she just is there when you need her. She is absolutely somebody that I aspire to be.
Toni: That’s wonderful. Anybody else you want to mention?
Leann: Andi Kurzweg. She is obviously a well known person in the media on Y102. I worked with her as well at the Humane Society of Berks County. She was a very special person to me, because she was someone who was just always so happy and bubbly and just could really find the good in every situation, which is important at a shelter as well, because sometimes it’s really hard. You have to dig really deep to find the good in a situation sometimes, and she just always found it, and she was just wonderful.
She went through, after she left the Humane Society, she was with a couple other places, and now she’s obviously on Y102, and to see her using her platform for such good…I mean, the things that she’s done in the past, I don’t know how long…I think a year or maybe more…it’s just incredible. She uses her passion for animals, and she’s been doing weekly segments to help them. She is just a person that is using her platform for good, and there needs to be way more people that are doing that.
Toni: That’s amazing. Those are two great shout outs. So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Leann: That is another loaded question. I feel that I’m at a time in my life where I’m still truly trying to discover who I am and who I want to be in the world and in life. I keep coming back to, I think we need just more kindness in the world, and I think that’s something that has always…I looked at as a negative in myself. I’m a very sensitive person. I’m a very emotional person. That sometimes comes back to bite me, because it makes me vulnerable, but I truly feel that I just want to be remembered as a kind person. I think that a lot of people kind of take the cutthroat route and they feel that society has made them where they have to be tough and rough and really kind of slam their fist down to get what they want, no hold back. I truly feel that you can attain any goal that you really want by still being polite and kind and just a genuine person. I want to be remembered for kindness, I guess.
Toni: Well, I’ll tell you what, I say this a lot on this Project, and it is very cool to see people who are living their legacy today, and that’s really what it’s about.
Leann: Thank you.
Toni: What a wonderful interview, and thank you for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Leann: Thank you so much for having me.
Toni: You’re welcome.
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Leann Quire.
Leann Quire: Thank you for having me.
Toni: So, Leann, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Leann: My name is Leann Quire. I’m the Operations Director at the Humane Society of Berks County. I’ve been there for the past four years in a management position, but I’ve been there for a total of 10 years. I started as a technician through a co-op program in high school, worked my way through college, graduated with my BS in biology, stepped away for a little bit to work at an animal emergency facility, and then my heart just was always with shelter work, so I found my way back to the Humane Society of Berks County, and that’s where I’ve been. I have a husband of two years, Kenny, and I have two cats and a silly dog named Moose. He is a pug/corgi mix, who is the love of my life. We recently bought a house, so apart from work, that is always taking up all of my time. We are now focusing on getting our house ready.
Toni: Wow. Well, thank you for showing up.
Leann: Yes.
Toni: Well, let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Leann: You know, I was thinking about this. I think inspiration is something that we use regularly as a term, and we almost take for granted when we sit down to actually think about it. It was a loaded question for me. I almost got emotional while I was thinking about it, because I don’t think I realized how much inspiration really has to do with the shelter world, but it does. It has everything to do with it, because the shelter world is very difficult for everybody. The workers, the community that has to either go there to adopt and see all the sad animals looking at them, or the people that have the heartbreaking, they run into having to get rid of their animals, and that’s why we’re there, but it’s a tough world to be in, and without inspiration I think that it just wouldn’t be able to run how it does.
Inspiration, getting back to the actual question, I feel that it is a combination of a spiritual feeling mixed with motivation and an overall greater feeling to make things better and just to help those around you and yourself as kind of a combination of those things. I think it’s a noun and a verb. I think that you not only have to feel the inspiration within you, but you have to act on it, and I think that’s where I really got tied to the whole world inspiration. I just feel that so much comes because of that feeling that it makes the world a better place.
Toni: What an amazing answer that was. Seriously.
Leann: Rambled on.
Toni: No, not at all. So, do you know when you’re inspired?
Leann: Yes and no. I think that the best inspiration comes when you don’t really acknowledge it right away. It starts a little bit in you and then it hits you all at once after I think you’ve processed different things. I think you acknowledge when you’re hit with inspiration, but maybe not at that moment, if that makes sense.
Toni: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Leann: I know I feel inspired, but then I’m like, “Wow! That actually started when I had this feeling or I ran into this person who really inspired me, but maybe I didn’t understand that at the moment.”
Toni: So it’s a possibility that was hanging out there, and then you went after that possibility.
Leann: Yes.
Toni: But it was the inspiration that created the possibility.
Leann: Absolutely. Yes.
Toni: Alright. That’s pretty darn cool. So when you take all of this when you’re inspired, how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Leann: Again, at a shelter, that consumes a lot of my life because it’s a passion of mine. It’s not just a job. It’s a career and a lifestyle. I feel that for inspiring people in the community, especially at my line of work, a lot of it comes from inspiring my staff members, because if I can inspire them, then that will, in turn, help the community. We do that every day. I inspire my staff members to focus on the care of the animals and be so dedicated and so loving and kind and just caring about every single one that comes through our door, and then use that to help educate the people that walk in our door, whether it’s to surrender, or to adopt, or just ask question. The staff member, their goal is to help them in whatever way.
It’s not just the people that want to adopt. We don’t just turn a blind eye to the people that want to surrender. We want to help them, too. We want to make sure that we’re letting them know that we are not there to judge. We are there to be of service to them, and if we can show that kindness to them, then that will inspire them to hopefully maybe the next time they run into a situation with an animal, it can help inspire them to do better next time or to just have the education to do a better job or just a different job or different things. I feel that it starts with me inspiring my staff to just be good people and just not let the negativity that comes through our doors every single day get to them so that they can show the people how much they care.
Toni: How do you fill that inspiration bucket up for yourself?
Leann: Oh, goodness, it is hard. It is hard. There’s obviously dry spells, but what I do is I really focus on there’s always cases that take an extra special place in your heart, and I know for me, it was a lot of animal cases where I didn’t think that they were going to make it out or they had really troublesome backgrounds and we worried that it was past the point of fixing or at least managing and a miracle happened, and our hard work paid off, and they did make it out.
I know there’s a special dog to me, and that it was pretty much that same case. We did not think he would make it out. It just wasn’t looking good, and we worked with him and worked with him, and we got him out. The family still has him, and they bring him to every one of our events. They send me Christmas cards. They send pictures. I have his Christmas card right by my desk, so when I’m feeling that lack of inspiration or just a little, we’ll just say frumpy, I look at that picture and it just brings back all the inspiration that flooded me during that time.
There’s many more cases like that, but it’s those really special ones that I have to just remind myself of to keep going. I know that if I can't inspire myself, I’m not going to be able to inspire my staff. I do have to self-care and self-motivate and try to sometimes reach that inspiration and not just wait for it to come.
Toni: And walk the talk.
Leann: Yes. Yes.
Toni: Walk the talk.
Leann: Yes. Absolutely.
Toni: So who in Berks County inspires you?
Leann: Well, this was something again I thought long and hard about, but it actually came to me very easily. Debbie Dreisbach is a very active member of the cat community in Berks County. She used to work at the Humane Society. She started probably around when I first started as a technician years and years ago, and then during her time there, she worked at our front desk. She really understood the need for trap/neuter/release assistance in the community. There really wasn’t any help with that. There was not even education, and she realized we needed that, because there were so many kittens coming in.
Those kittens were coming to us because there’s so many cats in the community that aren’t spayed and neutered, and they just reproduce and reproduce and reproduce, and that becomes a problem for the shelter, because then all of those cats are brought in to us, and we just don’t have room for all of them. There’s just not enough homes for them. It’s heartbreaking. Nobody wants to see a kitten that they can't find a home for. It’s devastating. She took that, and it inspired her to figure out what needed to happen. She paired up with a group called No Nonsense Neutering, and she was able to bring them to Berks County. I wish I had the date. It was a couple years ago, but they’ve been going strong for at least three years now, I believe it’s been, and we can see a difference in the shelter.
She is there when we need her. When we have a feral cat come in that we can't rehabilitate, we can't touch ourselves, she’ll come and she’ll take them and spay and neuter and she’ll find proper placement for them. She helps us with kittens when we get some kittens in. She has been trying to steer away from that and more towards the focus on the community cats, but she will help us with kittens. This is not her career. She has a full-time job that has nothing to with animals that helps pay her bills, but she truly works full-time on her own time volunteer base to just help wherever she can. I think anybody that is involved in pretty much animal welfare in Berks County probably has an idea of who she is, because she just, by word of mouth, she just is there when you need her. She is absolutely somebody that I aspire to be.
Toni: That’s wonderful. Anybody else you want to mention?
Leann: Andi Kurzweg. She is obviously a well known person in the media on Y102. I worked with her as well at the Humane Society of Berks County. She was a very special person to me, because she was someone who was just always so happy and bubbly and just could really find the good in every situation, which is important at a shelter as well, because sometimes it’s really hard. You have to dig really deep to find the good in a situation sometimes, and she just always found it, and she was just wonderful.
She went through, after she left the Humane Society, she was with a couple other places, and now she’s obviously on Y102, and to see her using her platform for such good…I mean, the things that she’s done in the past, I don’t know how long…I think a year or maybe more…it’s just incredible. She uses her passion for animals, and she’s been doing weekly segments to help them. She is just a person that is using her platform for good, and there needs to be way more people that are doing that.
Toni: That’s amazing. Those are two great shout outs. So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Leann: That is another loaded question. I feel that I’m at a time in my life where I’m still truly trying to discover who I am and who I want to be in the world and in life. I keep coming back to, I think we need just more kindness in the world, and I think that’s something that has always…I looked at as a negative in myself. I’m a very sensitive person. I’m a very emotional person. That sometimes comes back to bite me, because it makes me vulnerable, but I truly feel that I just want to be remembered as a kind person. I think that a lot of people kind of take the cutthroat route and they feel that society has made them where they have to be tough and rough and really kind of slam their fist down to get what they want, no hold back. I truly feel that you can attain any goal that you really want by still being polite and kind and just a genuine person. I want to be remembered for kindness, I guess.
Toni: Well, I’ll tell you what, I say this a lot on this Project, and it is very cool to see people who are living their legacy today, and that’s really what it’s about.
Leann: Thank you.
Toni: What a wonderful interview, and thank you for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Leann: Thank you so much for having me.
Toni: You’re welcome.
