Nehemiah’s Animal Shelter Visits Help More than the Animals
Jacksonville, Florida (May 7, 2025) – Jacksonville native Nehemiah Turner is featured as Kind News magazine’s latest Humane Hero in their May/June issue! Kind News is a children’s magazine published by RedRover®, a national animal welfare nonprofit.
Nehemiah’s kindness mission started last year when he was only nine years old. His grandmother took him to Jacksonville Humane Society to volunteer as a “Pawsitive Reader” to homeless animals. Pawsitive Reading is a shelter program where children visit the shelter to provide enrichment to pets through reading. From the moment he grabbed a book off of the shelf to read to his first furry shelter friend, Augie, Nehemiah was hooked! He loved reading to Augie so much that he cried when their reading session ended.
Not only does reading help to lower the animals’ stress levels, but it’s also beneficial to Nehemiah. While each reading helps to calm and soothe these homeless pets, he has also noticed his reading comprehension skills have greatly improved, so much so that he made the honor roll! A year later, Nehemiah estimates he has read to more than 40 shelter pets and has seen firsthand how much it has lessened reactivity in the most anxious dogs.
When asked what advice he would share with others who would like to help shelter animals through reading, Nehemiah said, “Take your time reading and be patient. The dogs enjoy the company.”
Most recently, he and his grandmother participated in their first “doggy day out.” He met a sweet dog named Norma whom they took for a half-mile walk. They also gifted her a toy and treated her to her first “pup cup” (a whipped cream treat for dogs) which she, of course, loved.
Beyond volunteering at the shelter, Nehemiah loves to spend time with his cat, KitKat, and dog, Ki, who get along quite well. He marvels at how clever KitKat is when the cat turns on the sink by himself, and he loves taking his cat for a walk on a leash.
“We love hearing of young Humane Heroes like Nehemiah,” said RedRover President and CEO Katie Campbell. “We hope his volunteer work inspires other young people to help furry, feathered, and scaled friends, and to continue to spread kindness throughout their communities.”
Nehemiah and his grandmother plan to keep volunteering at the shelter and look forward to many more “doggy days out.” He says, “I can’t wait to help more dogs like Norma.”
Do you know a child who goes above and beyond to show kindness towards animals? Submit a kindness story for a chance to be featured on RedRover’s social media channels and possibly be selected as a Humane Hero: KindNews.org/shareyourstory.
To learn more about Kind News and view Nehemiah’s feature, visit KindNews.org.
About Kind News:
Kind News magazine™ is an eight-page, full-color RedRover publication that inspires kids to be curious, helpful, and kind to people and animals around them.The magazine uses articles and short features to highlight issues affecting animals and provides tips for understanding animal behavior and caring for pets. Each issue features a young Humane Hero, game or activity, MUTTS comic strip, Critter Clues, and much more.The publication is available in two reading versions: Kind News,Jr. for grades K-2 and Kind News for grades 3-6, and is distributed five times throughout the school year. The magazine is available in print or as an interactive, digital edition. To learn more, visit KindNews.org.
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