Meet the Organizers
Walk For The Underdog came about when Helena Kriel and Arthur Jeon went to the South Central Dog Shelter to try and rescue a pitbull that was about to be euthanized. "It was a truly shocking and heart breaking experience" Helena says "the dogs were emaciated and shaking in their cages." The experience affected her deeply. "After that I decided to do something. I needed to roll up my sleeves and get involved in the struggle to find every dog a home." Helena approached Rene Breier, Arthur Jeon and Linda Goldman who all immediately came on board to form Walk for the Underdog as founder members. The core group expanded and now there are eleven in the main Underdog team. See their bios below.
Helena Kriel
Helena
Kriel was born and raised in South
Africa where she spent every holiday
in the bush looking at wild animals.
It seeded in her a deep love of
nature and animals. She moved
to America fourteen years ago
and lives in the mountains of Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles.
She has coyotes in the garden
and owls that live on the roof
and the occasional deer that passes
through. She is devoted to animals
and especially dogs and wants
to make a difference to the thousands
of wonderful dogs who are in pounds.
'There are so many beautiful and
very adoptable dogs who are being
euthanized daily. People still
buy dogs when they should rescue
- I know we can make a difference.'
Helena works as a screenwriter
in Hollywood and is working on a novel.
Jennifer Wolf:
Jennifer Wolf (Shore) was born in a suburb of Los Angeles were her parents bred Doberman Pinchers. Jennifer’s mother claims that one day as a baby she had to leave her with a neighbor so she could run to the store. Apparently Dobbie, the male Doberman, stood over her the entire time Jennifer’s mother was gone and would not let the babysitter get close to her. So you could say she has been a big dog lover since. Jennifer and her husband Woody rescued a Miniature Dachshund, Peanut from the streets. “It was raining and he was in the middle of the street. My husband almost ran him over. He took him in and dried him off and named him Peanut.” That was 9 years ago and he is the love of our lives”. Jennifer owns Leave An Impression a custom Gift Basket and Gift Company in Los Angeles. Leave An Impression has designed Doggy Baskets since it’s inception in 1998 and of course Peanut has been our model.
Rene
Breier, Ph.D.
Growing
up in Africa, Rene had the opportunity to
develop a close bond with the
bountiful fauna and flora of that
continent. She was an animal lover
from a very early age visiting
Game Parks with her family. Blackie,
her first pup and faithful companion
from the age of 7-16, taught her
much about love and loss. About
a year ago, Rene adopted a purebred
11 month old Siberian Husky who
was discarded by his family. While
searching for a dog to adopt,
she realized that vast numbers
of dogs in shelters and in rescue
were in desperate need of homes.
This experience provoked Rene
into acting to alleviate the unimaginable
suffering hidden from the eye
of the public. Rene is determined
that Walk for the Underdog will
make a difference.
Linda
Goldman: 
Linda is the pied-piper of Topanga, CA. Several neighborhood dogs have made her house their second home and she spends much time speaking to them in a language all her own, as taught by her guru and mentor Dr. Doolittle. She is a deep lover of her four-legged friends and wants to help make a difference in their lives. Linda worked in the film industry for over 20 years but has given it up to pursue her passions of Vedic astrology and service to animals and humans. She has a private astrology practice in Los Angeles.
David Walker:
Raised by a pack of wolves in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and now living in Calabasas, David Walker pursued his passion for nature and all living creatures with a stint in the Peace Corps. He spent six years running with packs of wild dogs in Micronesia, Japan and Hawaii. He was a professional journalist locally and overseas for 15 years, but wriggled out of that choke chain in favor of the freedom offered by being a PR howl-meister for top dogs. He volunteers for and is on the board of directors of a group that rescues horses and trains them to be ridden by severely handicapped kids. He's involved in Underdog because of his passion for one of God's more incredible creations. Besides, his pit mutt, named Maximus, ordered him to get involved rescuing Underdogs and anyone who has ever met Maximus knows that whatever Maximus wants, Maximus gets!
Arthur Jeon:
Arthur Jeon, a founding member of Underdog, has always loved animals, ever since he was 8 and he had a pet toad named Edgar who lived in the window-well of the family home. Growing up he also had a beagle named Zorba who got hit by a car at the age of two. The vet recommended euthenasia but Arthur's family refused. They set the leg and Zorba lived another 16 years with a straight leg, bringing much joy and inspiration to Arthur's youth. Arthur is a writer who has written two books: City Dharma, Keeping Your Cool in the Chaos and Sex, Love and Dharma (Random House, 2005). He has a cat named Omar whom he rescued and is uncle to many dogs.
Alexis Benveniste:
Alexis is a free-lance makeup artist and devoted animal lover. She lives by the mantra "if you want a friend, feed an animal."
