WestConn Student An Advocate For Animals

By Dottie Evans

No matter how young or how old they may be, Canine Advocates organizer Virginia Jess can always tell when her volunteer helpers are dedicated to the cause. And she knows she can rely on them.

“They come to our tag sales. They put up fliers for us. They get involved, and there is almost nothing they won’t do to help,” said Ms Jess.

Among the many who have stepped forward to help the local Canine Advocates group ensure the safety and well being of dogs at the Newtown dog pound, Ms Jess was speaking specifically of Lindsey Goodwick, who recently raised $215 by selling chocolate bars and donated the money for use by the pound “to make the dogs happier.”

A graduate of Newtown High School with the Class of 2000, Ms Goodwick, a longtime Hattertown Road resident, is currently a student at Western Connecticut State University studying anthropology and sociology.

“I’ve known Lindsey for at least five years now. When she was working part-time at the Mount Pleasant Hospital for Animals, she would take photographs of the animals that were up for adoption and put them on the web for us,” Ms Jess said.

Ms Goodwick sold the chocolates with the help of her college friend, Grace Felten. She was interviewed in early February for this story and spoke briefly about her advocacy for animals –– for dogs without permanent homes as well as for other wild creatures whose lives or habitat are somehow threatened or endangered.

“We sold the chocolates last semester. They are made by the Endangered Species Chocolate Company, and the owner donates ten percent of the profits to research. There’s the koala bar, and the panda bar, for example, and you can buy them at Health Food Stores like Chamomile on Route 6 in Bethel.”

Roots And Shoots

Make A Difference

In a way, helping support Newtown’s Canine Advocates group is a natural outgrowth of the activist philosophy adopted by Ms Goodwick and others who want to make a difference in their local communities.

“I’ve gotten involved with Roots and Shoots. That’s the Jane Goodall Institute geared for younger people, K through college. There are 9,000 Roots and Shoots groups worldwide, and its members share a care and concern for the environment, for animals, and for their home communities. We are interested in how these separate entities interact with each other, and we find good things to do,” Ms Goodwick said.

Beyond selling Endangered Species Chocolate Bars at cost and donating the profits in the community wherever there is a need, Roots and Shoots members spread the word to the school community by visiting classrooms and giving talks.

“We try to make the world a better place,” Ms Goodwick said.

Other money that the WestConn group has raised will be donated to the Tanzanian Wheelchair Foundation, “for which we have raised $100 so far.” Their projects also include bringing recycling into the dorms at WestConn, and holding meetings once a week.

In line with her interest in anthropology, Ms Goodwick has become fascinated with archaeology and has been taking part in digs with her professor on a Native American site in Bridgewater.

“We’ve found a lot of arrowheads. In June, we’ll fly to Colorado and dig some more in conjunction with Western Colorado University. And we’re looking forward to Dr Gooddall coming to WestConn in May. She’ll talk to all the local Roots and Shoots groups in the local schools.

“When she visits regularly, she’s touching base and she shows us she is out there paying attention to what we’re trying to do. It reenergizes us,” said Ms Goodwick.

Meanwhile, Virginia Jess said she is reenergized by the constant support and efforts of young people like Lindsey Goodwick, who do what they can to help Canine Advocates.

“A lot of them are very busy with school and jobs. They can’t do too much for us at first, but they do what they can to make the dogs happy, and that matters so much,” said Ms Jess.