The Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers with Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers offer their sincerest congratulations to Julia Pieri, winner of the 2026 Community Impact Through Animal Service Scholarship. Pieri, a student at Florida State University, moved the team with her memories of her time volunteering with the “green-eyed dog,” Zeke.
Pieri’s scholarship essay describes the exact kind of positive relationship that the Community Impact Through Animal Service Scholarship celebrates: a relationship between a student and a dog that exemplifies how service transforms the lives of individuals while making a difference in in-need communities.
Who Is Julia Pieri?
Julia Pieri is currently a student at Florida State University, where she’s pursuing dual degrees in Accounting and Economics with a minor in Commercial Entrepreneurship. She’s always been interested in business operations and the thought processes that go into a business’s financial decisions.
Once Pieri graduates, she plans to pursue her Master’s degree and sit for the CPA exam, after which she intends to pursue a career as a Certified Public Accountant. She intends to specialize in tax and public accounting.
“I hope to continue gaining experience through internships and professional opportunities, while developing the skills needed to help individuals and businesses make informed financial decisions,” she says. “Long term, I want to grow into a leadership role and continue using my education and career to give back to my community.”
Pieri and Zeke: Unexpected Friends
Pieri found herself drawn to the Community Impact Through Animal Service Scholarship after taking care of the “green-eyed dog,” Zeke. She didn’t plan to foster Zeke but took over his care when a friend from Florida State University got sick.
“Between classes and studying, I would stop by to make sure he had fresh food and water and take him outside for walks,” Pieri says. “Those walks quickly became my favorite part of the day.”
“Helping care for Zeke also showed me how important foster networks are for rescue animals,” she continues. “Foster dogs rely on stability, routine, and kindness while they transition from uncertain pasts to hopeful futures. By stepping in while my friend was sick, I was able to help maintain that stability for him.”
Animal Companionship Can Inspire Connection and Healthier Communities
Pieri’s experience caring for Zeke let her better understand how transformative taking care of an animal can be, and how one person’s compassion and care can positively impact the lives of animals in need.
Pieri’s empathy for animals in need has a long history. She has her own experience with severe anxiety and knows from firsthand experience how therapy dogs can transform a person’s experience with mental health conditions by providing them with emotional support and comfort.
She also participates in events like Pilates with Puppies, which help connect puppies in need of homes with possible owners, including students at Florida State University. “Zeke reminded me that animals depend on people not just for care, but also for compassion,” she says. “They cannot ask for help in words, but their trust in us makes our responsibility clear.”
About the Community Impact Through Animal Service Scholarship
Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers debuted its Community Impact Through Animal Service Scholarship to celebrate students who directly experienced the positive impact that volunteering with shelter dogs, foster dogs, and therapy dogs can have on individuals and broader communities.
This scholarship promises $2,000 to a student who can draft an essay between 500 and 700 words discussing how their work with shelter animals has transformed their perspectives on the world. We want students to reflect on their volunteer experiences and highlight how their service has positively impacted the lives of in-need dogs and the people around them.
Students interested in applying for the Community Impact Through Animal Service Scholarship can visit the scholarship’s terms and conditions page to learn more about next year’s qualifying criteria and submission deadline.
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Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers Congratulates Julia Pieri
Julia Pieri has more on her plate than her academic studies. She consistently gives back to her community. She used her title as Miss Fort Lauderdale’s Teen 2024 in the Miss America Organization to promote breast cancer awareness. She continues to champion research into breast cancer by participating in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
She donates to the Florida Breast Cancer Association and volunteers with Boca Helping Hands and the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. On top of all of this, she spent the summer of 2026 working as a Receivable Intern at SBA Communications. She has plans next year to join CohnReznick as a Tax Intern.
The legal team with Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers applauds Pieri’s seemingly bottomless well of love for her community and passion for the projects that inspire her the most.
We hope that her $2,000 in winnings will help her continue to find the time to give back throughout the coming academic year.
