SBVC student Breanna Lopez has found a way to combine her love of dogs with a desire to help animals in need.

Lopez, a schedule/catalog data specialist in the Office of Instruction, is a volunteer at the West End Shelter in Ontario. As part of her duties, Lopez exercises and socializes the dogs, giving them lots of love and attention.

“I have a shirt that says, ‘Life Goal: Pet All the Dogs,’ and volunteering at the shelter helps me get closer to reaching that goal,” Lopez said. “I am an animal lover and I want to do everything I can to help shelter dogs get good homes.”

Lopez lives in Ontario, and being able to help dogs in her community makes giving back even sweeter. “Volunteering not only helps others, it makes you feel good,” she said. “In the time of COVID there is so much need, and to be able to make any kind of difference makes everything feel less out of control.”

When she’s not at work or the animal shelter, Lopez can be found cheering on her favorite sports teams: the Lakers and Dodgers. She encourages others to find ways to volunteer based on activities that interest them, because she knows “for me, the time I spend at the shelter is absolutely my favorite time of the week.”