Jamie Brogdon Photography
As a senior officer for the Emerald Belles, Reagan Needleman has kept busy during her last year of high school. But outside of the drills, high kicks and halftime shows, Reagan’s proudest achievement has been starting the Animal Service Club. As an aspiring veterinarian, Reagan cares deeply for animals’ well-being and aspires to help them however she can. Through several service projects and community initiatives, Reagan is proud of everything she has done and all of the animals she’s helped over the years.
I’VE ALWAYS BEEN AN... animal lover. I’ve had my dog Bree since she was 4 years old, and she’s been such a big part of my life. She’s taught me so much about animals — about caring for them and what their companionship can do for you. I think everybody should be able to experience that bond, which is why I think it’s so important to help shelter animals find forever homes.
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 6 YEARS OLD, MY FAMILY... adopted a border collie puppy named Baye. She was born in a puppy mill and sadly passed away from [Canine parvovirus] at a very young age. I don’t wish that experience on anyone, and I knew I wanted to prevent that from happening to others in the future.
I CREATED THE ANIMAL SERVICE CLUB IN... 2021. My sole purpose was to volunteer and give back to animals in the community in any way I could. I really wanted to create an environment where pet lovers could come together and share their passion for animals through service.
I NEEDED TO GET... seven signatures to officially start the club, and I was afraid no one would sign up. I remember panicking, running up to my friends being like ‘please sign this sheet for me.’ After a lot of running around, I got the signatures, and over 50 members ended up joining us. Turns out, animals are a great way to bring people together.
AS CLUB PRESIDENT, I... created all of the service projects that would benefit a shelter in the area and get our club members behind it. One of the first things we did was partner with the Southlake Tennis Club and collected 1,000 tennis balls for rescue dogs. We packed all of those balls into my foyer before hand-delivering them to North Richland Hills animal services. My poor dogs were practically begging for them while they just sat there.
OUR MOST RECENT PROJECT WAS... a school-wide donation drive where we collected old T-shirts, deconstructed them and turned them into rope toys for Take Me Home Pet Rescue and Eastlake Pet Orphanage. Usually, we just do service projects within the club, but for this, I wanted to specifically include everybody in the district to see what we could do with a larger group of people. We ended up getting so many T-shirts that I lost count. We must have gotten like 20 stacks of T-shirts and packed them all into my mom’s SUV. We filled up the whole thing, floor to ceiling. I even had to make multiple trips.
LAST SPRING, I WAS... nominated for NBC DFW’s PAWSitively Good Award, which recognizes people in the community who go above and beyond for helping shelter animals. It was a crazy honor to even be considered for the award and go and talk about my experience working with animals. It’s a reflection of not just all of my hard work, but also a reflection of my club members and leadership team too.
I’VE REACHED OUT TO... almost every shelter in the DFW area. For my senior year, I’m now at the point where I’m looking at what’s next for us and our club. There are always opportunities to help — it’s just a matter of seeking out the right ones.