Good Dog Gala Raises Support for Therapy Dogs To Help People Across the NY Metro

Post-Gala Funding Drive Begins

NEW YORK, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of guests and loving therapy dogs attended a joy-filled party to support the animal-assisted healing work of The Good Dog Foundation at its gala, May 13 at New York's Edison Ballroom. Funds raised, amounting to nearly a quarter of the foundation's yearly budget, will be used to increase therapy dog-human handler teams across the Greater NY / Tri-State area.

Gala highlight:  Good Dog presented its Annual Healing Awards to three partner-organizations that make particularly impactful use of therapy dog visits to benefit those they serve. This year's winners were The Juilliard School, the Ulster Regional Drug Treatment Court, and global financial services company Barclays, along with their associated Good Dog teams. A short documentary film, Dogs Who Save The World, shows the life-saving impact of therapy dog visits at each winning facility and was screened prior to the award ceremony.

The gala also kicked off Good Dog's summer funder aimed at doubling its volunteer therapy dog corps.

"Good Dog is straining to respond to an epidemic of anxiety / depression in children and adults," says Bruce Fagin, Executive Director and Chief Advancement Officer for the nonprofit. "We help 100,000+ people a year overcome stress and learning issues, but many more need help now. Political unrest, economic uncertainty, climate change, and war have torn at the wellbeing of American families. Work from home / return to office policy changes have aggravated employee stress. Half of all adults now report anxiety, 41% report depression. For those 18-29, anxiety and depression rates are 65% and 61%, respectively. Our 330 volunteer therapy dog teams barely have bandwidth to visit our current 300 partner hospitals, schools, nursing homes, libraries, and workplaces. We need twice as many therapy dog teams, and it costs $1,000 to recruit, train, certify, deploy, and equip them with liability insurance. A summer funding drive will help." 

Gala guests learned about the growing need for therapy dogs directly from Healing Award recipients:

"For each Good Dog visit, we get at least 100 executives lined up outside a conference room in our midtown office building just waiting to get on the floor with these [therapy] dogs," said Betty Gee, Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer for Global Equities and Liquid Financing at Barclays. "We all understand that colleague wellbeing supports commercial success and therapy dog visits are an immediate, easy-to-implement solution to mitigate some of those common workplace stressors. Partnering with Good Dog is an effective tool in our holistic employee wellbeing program."

Nshyira Korankyi, Associate Director of Student Affairs at Juilliard said: "We are honored to accept this award from The Good Dog Foundation. Their therapy dogs provide comfort, connection and a sense of home when our students and staff need it most – before a performance, after a rehearsal, during finals week. The dogs offer unconditional affection."

Outcomes reported by award recipients, like those above, are backed up by scientific research.

Good Dog Founding President and Chief Science Officer, Rachel McPherson reports: "Research shows the loving gaze and touch of therapy dogs triggers an instant surge in the hormone oxytocin, which is associated with feelings of joy, stress relief, morale boosting, and trust – feelings that can enhance workgroup cohesion as well as creative and productive output. Outcomes like these are particularly helpful for patients in hospitals, for kids learning to read in schools, for lessening loneliness in nursing homes, and for bolstering workforce wellness in businesses, as well as for those struggling with addiction."

To demonstrate how powerful the surge in feel-good hormones is, the Good Dog Gala featured "Therapy Dog Love Sessions" during the cocktail hour – opportunities for guests to have quality time with a therapy dog team. Gala guests reported the sessions left them euphoric, with so many staying late, the venue had to flicker its lights to signal it was closing time.

Guests also were treated to a live jazz trio from Juilliard, a silent auction, chef-prepared dinner and desserts, and a live auction hosted by Caitlin Davis, founder of Warfield Eliot, which provides art advisory and education services as well as auctioneering.

Information on Good Dog's post-gala funding drive:
https://GoodDogGala2025.givesmart.com

Information on becoming a Good Dog volunteer:
https://TheGoodDogFoundation.org/volunteer-certification/

Press information or to see the film, Dogs Who Save The World:
[email protected]

The Good Dog Foundation is globally recognized as the world leader for best practices and trustworthiness in the field of Animal Assisted Therapy to ease human suffering.

We annually deploy hundreds of rigorously trained therapy dog / human handler teams throughout the greater New York Metro / Tri-State area who help over 100,000 adults and children recover from emotional anxiety, depression and trauma as well as surmount learning disabilities. Our 300 partner facilities include the world's great teaching, science and research institutions as well as schools, nursing homes, libraries, social service centers and (increasingly) businesses seeking workforce wellness visits for stressed employees.

We are known for scientific studies, published in peer-reviewed journals, assessing the impact of animal assisted therapy on vulnerable populations (people with cancer, children in stress), working with Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Mount Sinai Health System and others.

Good Dog 2025 Healing Award Winners 

1. The Juilliard School
   For Steadfast Support of Student Health and Wellbeing
   Contact:  Nshyira Korankyi, Assoc. Director of Student Affairs and/or Sabrina Tanbara, Assoc. Dean of Student Development, Email: [email protected]
   
   The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education for gifted musicians, dancers, actors, composers, choreographers, and playwrights from around the world. Its rigorous academic and performance-based environment can lead to stress for students. Juilliard offers various resources, including health and counseling services. And those resources have, for a decade, included Good Dog visits, which, on occasion have drawn 15% of the student body. Good Dog visits are now monthly. When asked what they feel while hugging one of our dogs, students often respond: "I feel like I'm home." Good Dog is honored to support young artists who will, as they grow, give us the joy and spiritual uplift of their artistic expression.
   
   Associated Good Dog Team
   Elizabeth Caputo, Jose Martinez and Bruno
   For Devotion to Human Healing Through Animal Assisted Therapy 
   
   
2. Ulster Regional Drug Treatment Court
   For Their Commitment to Helping People Lead Lives Free of Substance Abuse
   Contact: Vanessa Manzi, Resource Coordinator, Email: [email protected]
   Drug courts involve a dramatic intervention, working with an entire team including defense, prosecution, treatment, education, and law enforcement. Reduced sentences and/or charges are often offered to non-violent addicted individuals who opt voluntarily into court-supervised treatment. This treatment is considered an alternative to traditional incarceration. When people embrace the program and their recovery the results can be positive. The addicted individuals benefit from extra motivation therapy dogs provide. 
   
   Associated Good Dog Team
   Renee Payne (Good Dog Director of Training) and Fonzie, Good Dog Team
   For Devotion to Human Healing Through Animal Assisted Therapy
   
   
3. Barclays
   For its Contribution to Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing
   Contact: Oksana Poltavets, Corporate Communications, Email: [email protected]
   Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth management. What started as occasional visits for a small affinity group at Barclays New York City headquarters has grown into a monthly event for de-stressing across all the Barclays teams. Each notice of an upcoming visit sparks a building-wide buzz of excitement. Barclays commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of their employees through Good Dog's loving therapy dogs, is a model for corporate offices everywhere.
   
   Associated Good Dog Team
   Stacy Lewis and Ollie
   For Devotion to Human Healing Through Animal Assisted Therapy

SOURCE The Good Dog Foundation