The Petco Foundation Celebrates $875,000 in Holiday Wishes Grants and Announces People's Choice Award Winners

More than 100 heartwarming pet adoption stories celebrated, and five winning stories receive additional grants for U.S. animal welfare organizations

News provided by

Petco Foundation

Dec 20, 2019, 17:19 ET

SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout December, the Petco Foundation and BOBS from Skechers spread $875,000 in holiday cheer to animal welfare organizations nationwide during the 7th annual Holiday Wishes grant campaign. More than 100 grants ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 were inspired by pet adopters who submitted stories about how their pets brightened their lives. Winning adopters and organizations were celebrated at Holiday Wishes events across the nation where adopters received Petco shopping sprees and BOBS from Skechers shoes and accessories.

First graders at Reeths-Puffer Elementary School wrote letters persuading their school to adopt a dog. They were so convincing, their school adopted therapy dog, Buddy! Now their story is making $100,000 in Holiday Wishes come true for the Muskegon Humane Society and saving shelter pets in their community!
First graders at Reeths-Puffer Elementary School wrote letters persuading their school to adopt a dog. They were so convincing, their school adopted therapy dog, Buddy! Now their story is making $100,000 in Holiday Wishes come true for the Muskegon Humane Society and saving shelter pets in their community!
Winning adopter and school shooting survivor Drew Pescaro and his dog Lilly celebrate a $50,000 grant award with the team from Peak Lab Rescue.
Winning adopter and school shooting survivor Drew Pescaro and his dog Lilly celebrate a $50,000 grant award with the team from Peak Lab Rescue.
The team from San Antonio Pets Alive celebrate their $60,000 Holiday Wishes grant award from the Petco Foundation with winning adopters Beverley Oaks and Florencia Aguilar.
The team from San Antonio Pets Alive celebrate their $60,000 Holiday Wishes grant award from the Petco Foundation with winning adopters Beverley Oaks and Florencia Aguilar.
Elliott hugs adopted dog, Bindy, after it's revealed that their story helped Little Victories Animal Rescue Group in West Virginia win a $5,000 grant award.
Elliott hugs adopted dog, Bindy, after it's revealed that their story helped Little Victories Animal Rescue Group in West Virginia win a $5,000 grant award.
First graders at Reeths-Puffer Elementary School wrote letters persuading their school to adopt a dog. They were so convincing, their school adopted therapy dog, Buddy! Now their story is making $100,000 in Holiday Wishes come true for the Muskegon Humane Society and saving shelter pets in their community!
Winning adopter and school shooting survivor Drew Pescaro and his dog Lilly celebrate a $50,000 grant award with the team from Peak Lab Rescue. The team from San Antonio Pets Alive celebrate their $60,000 Holiday Wishes grant award from the Petco Foundation with winning adopters Beverley Oaks and Florencia Aguilar. Elliott hugs adopted dog, Bindy, after it's revealed that their story helped Little Victories Animal Rescue Group in West Virginia win a $5,000 grant award.

Animal lovers helped make even more Holiday Wishes come true by voting for their favorite Holiday Wishes story. Five stories were selected by popular vote to receive a "People's Choice Award," and earned animal welfare organizations an additional grant, ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.

To vote for their favorite, the public chose from 105 heartwarming, inspiring stories including: a class of first graders who persuaded their school to adopt a therapy dog; a female truck driver whose dog reminded her to find joy in the open road; a military transplant who adopted a dog and consequently met the woman of his dreams; a young couple whose adopted cat's antics help keep family close no matter the distance, and more.

Each story showed the life-changing power of pet adoption while spreading joy and hope across the nation, and celebratory events brought communities together in honor of pet adoption. Children's excited cheers, happy tears and plenty of hugs spanned from coast to coast for the animal welfare organizations who will use these funds to help save even more animal lives in the year to come.

These five stories were selected by voters to win additional grant funds.
The 2019 People's Choice Winners Are:

$25,000 – One Tail at a Time (Chicago, IL)
An inpatient rehab program was the important first step in Amanda's recovery. Now adopted dog, Opal, is helping her stay on the path to a healthy, happy life.
Read the winning story here: https://www.petcofoundation.org/opaljane/

$10,000 – Sacramento SPCA (Sacramento, CA)
With nine adopted dogs in an RV, Lee wasn't looking for a new member for his pack. But when he met Tony, he knew they were meant to be family.
Read the winning story here: https://www.petcofoundation.org/tonytootoned/

$10,000 – Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter (Valley View, OH)
Adopted dog Yuri doesn't let her deafness get in the way of helping other dogs find loving homes.
Read the winning story here: https://www.petcofoundation.org/yuri/

$5,000 – The SPCA for Monterey County (Monterey, CA)
With patience, understanding and a lot of love, Stacey and Ginger have found a new life together on the trails—hand in paw.
Read the winning story here: https://www.petcofoundation.org/ginger/

$5,000 – Charleston Humane Society (Charleston, SC)
Caitlyn's story of recovery after abuse inspires abuse case's lead prosecutor to welcome her into his family.
Read the winning story here: https://www.petcofoundation.org/caitlyn/

Since 2012, the Petco Foundation has awarded more than $5 million to animal welfare organizations across the nation during the annual Holiday Wishes campaign, where more than 15,000 adopters have shared stories of how their adopted pets brighten their lives. This year, grant awards included a $100,000 grand prize, 55 finalist awards ranging from $5,000 - $50,000 and 50 honorable mentions earning $1,000 each.

To learn more about the Petco Foundation and the Holiday Wishes campaign, visit www.petcofoundation.org/holidaywishes and follow along on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to see the celebrations in action. To learn more about BOBS from Skechers' commitment to improving animals' lives through BOBS for Dogs and BOBS for Cats, visit www.bobsfromskechers.com and follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About the Petco Foundation
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999, we've invested more than $260 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we've helped more than 6 million pets find their new loving families, and we're just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.

About Skechers U.S.A., Inc. 
Based in Manhattan Beach, California, Skechers designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. Skechers footwear is available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 3,300 Skechers Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company's e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, and throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

About BOBS from Skechers
BOBS from Skechers' charitable collection of BOBS for Dogs and BOBS for Cats shoes, apparel and accessories have improved animals' lives: over the past four years, Skechers has contributed more than $4.58 million to help more than 847,000 shelter pets, including saving more than 487,000 rescued pets in the United States. It all started in 2011, when Skechers launched a movement to support children impacted by natural disasters and poverty – a cause that has helped the Company donate more than 15 million pairs of new pairs of shoes to kids in more than 60 countries worldwide. To learn more about BOBS from Skechers' commitment to making a difference, visit www.BOBSfromSkechers.com and follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Contact:

Lisa Lane, Director of Development and Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE Petco Foundation

Related Links

https://www.petcofoundation.org