A belief in potential

Jack Reid has always been interested in medicine. By the time he was six, and carefully bottle-feeding an ailing kitten, his devotion to animals was apparent. When he walked into the Amherst Animal Hospital and applied for his first job at 16, his life’s work was clear.

What was less clear was how to get there.

Jack knew that college plus four years of veterinary school would be extremely expensive.

But in 1985, Bernice Perry had created a scholarship at the Foundation to offer significant help to young people who might not yet be “stars,” but who had potential and needed financial assistance.

That scholarship followed Jack as he excelled at the University of New Hampshire and has continued through the Veterinary Medicine program at the University of Pennsylvania. To Jack, the award felt like a validation of his dream, a statement of “We believe in you.”

During high school, Jack struggled with confidence. Now, just a few semesters from becoming a veterinary doctor, he approaches people and animals with a curiosity, kindness and self-assurance that will help make him great at his work.

Jack wants to practice both primary and urgent care. He already has a job offer.