FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 10, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
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Forest Hills woman looks to ‘Paw
it Forward’ with free dog walks
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Forest Hills’ Corinne Conover knows how
important dogs can be to seniors and those
suff ering from illness.
Her life is dedicated to aiding those with
autism as well as Asperger’s syndrome, but
lately she has dedicated her time to an unexpected
demand.
Walking dogs for the sick and elderly in her
community is one she has decided to dedicate
the time she does not spend with clients,
saving the people who need help money they
could be spending on healthcare.
But in the eight months since she began
what is now known as “Paw It Forward,”
members of the community have swarmed
her rank looking to help out, but there is one
problem: with over 50, she has more volunteers
than dogs that need walking.
“Th e volunteers are willing and able and
ready to go, but we have less dogs than we
have volunteers,” Conover said. “Th e overwhelming
response I got from the community
boards with people who really wanted
to step up and volunteer, I had no idea.
I thought it was just going to be me and my
little rescue dog helping a few people in the
neighborhood.”
Quillnilla Shtatlender, 78, lives off
Yellowstone Avenue and Woodhaven
Boulevard, and at her age fi nds it diffi cult
to give her dog Rumi the attention he needs
while her daughter Olga is away.
Th e cancer patients Conover works with
vary in age with the youngest being a 27-yearold
Hodgkins lymphoma patient and one of
the older being a senior citizen who suff ers
from brain cancer.
But Conover keeps the names and conditions
of the people she helps confi dential
since many do not wish to make their conditions
known to their neighbors.
“Th e senior citizens love it for the companionship
because they’ll invite us in and they’ll
want to talk and hang out for a little bit before
we take out their dog, so there’s a connection
there with the person too and not just their
dog,” Conover said.
Conover takes her own dog, 12-year-old
yorkie-poodle Sonny, on every walk with
her, each of which can last between one and
two hours.
Conover with her own dog Sonny (l.) and
Rumi who belongs to Guillnilla Shtatlender
from Forest Hills.
To prevent there being a “revolving door”
of strangers through her client’s homes,
Conover prefers to assign one to two volunteers
to each person she helps. Th is familiarity
creates a healthy relationship between the
two parties.
Conover has meetings planned with a lawyer
to establish Paw It Forward as an offi -
cial nonprofi t organization, and in mid-May,
date pending, she will have a fundraiser to
fi nance a website.
She has lived in the community for about
eight years, where she met her husband six
years ago, since moving to Queens from
Long Island.
Conover plans to keep driving the organization
forward with more dogs and more volunteers,
but warns those interested in getting
involved that working her clients is a commitment.
Th e Forest Hills resident has also teamed
up with Forest Park Barking Lot Vice
Photo: Mark Hallum/THE COURIER
President Esta-Joy Sydell at events to promote
her program.
If you’re interested in the program,
Conover can be reached at 516-554-1268 or
by email at CorinneConover@aol.com with
the subject line “Paw It Forward.”
Corinne Conover, founder of Paw-It-Forward, with a client of hers named Guillnilla in Forest Hills.
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