Pet supply company provides paws-itive holiday fun for Athens children

ATHENS, Ga. — Chewy, the pet supply company, made it their mission to bring holiday fun to children at Hopebridge in Athens.

According to Chewy, their Chewy Claus program helped them deliver a party with gifts and cheer for 7-year-old black lab Eliza and several children with autism at Hopebridge, where Eliza is a therapy dog.

Eliza has served as a therapy dog for five years, bringing pawsitivity and fluffy fun to community centers, elementary schools, retirement homes and college campuses, but Chewy said her favorite lace is Hopebridge.

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The pet supplier said Eliza helps the children at Hopebridge work on math skills by encouraging them to count dog treats for her and learn their colors based on the outfits she wears each day.

On other occasions, she’s a stabilizing presence after big upsets, giving hugs and love to the children, according to Chewy.

According to Eliza’s owner, Donna, she’s used to being used to help in a lot of different ways.

“Eliza can be utilized in a wide variety of ways: children can practice school readiness with her identifying body parts and colors, counting, and reading with her. They may practice personal hygiene by brushing Eliza’s hair, then their own. They may read to Eliza or count out dog treats. They may take her for a walk while transitioning from room to room. They may share their snacks with her while experiencing new foods,” Donna said. “They may pet and hug Eliza while relaxing after a big upset. They may simply play with Eliza while taking a break from work! The possibilities are endless!”

Chewy said Eliza was credited with helping some children reach big milestones, like the family of Kimberly Gonzales, whose formerly nonspeaking daughter Ahnika could now speak with full sentences after sessions with the lab.

The Chewy Claus program is in its second year and, according to Chewy, it lets pets share their holiday lists with Chewy Claus to ask for anything from treats to toys to new wheelchairs and even reunions with their favorite people.

The program functions as a “Letters to Chewy Claus” initiative and is open for any pet whether they’re covered in fur, feathers or scales. In 2022, the first year of the program, almost 80,000 pets wrote letters, resulting in thousands of gifts and 80,000 pound of pet food donations made on their behalves.

For each letter received, Chewy donates a pound of food.

“At Chewy, we pride ourselves on taking the utmost care of pets and pet parents every day, but the holiday season is a special time to do even more,” Orlena Yeung, VP of Brand Marketing at Chewy, said. “We were thrilled by the enthusiasm and generosity our community demonstrated last year and knew we needed to make the program bigger for more pets to participate. We hope Chewy Claus is a tradition pets and their pet parents look forward to every year as much as we do.”

More focused on Eliza and her special friends at Hopebridge, Chewy said they gave a $20,000 donation to BluePath Service Dogs, an organization that trains dogs to help children with autism, so they can keep up their good work.

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