On Friday, June 8, 2018, the Search Dog Foundation (SDF) received a Helping Heroes Award from the Petco Foundation at their annual Awards Gala. It is a great honor to receive this award – given the vast reach of the Petco Foundation and the many organizations they work with throughout the United States – and SDF is deeply humbled to have been chosen.
SDF first partnered with the Petco Foundation back in 2002, when their founding Executive Director, Paul Jolly, attended an event to meet our Search Teams and our Founder, Wilma Melville and immediately was inspired to become an important Part of the Search. Paul oversaw the Petco Foundation for many years and his support helped SDF administer a healthcare fund for disaster search dogs across the country, helped the current Canine Cancer Fund that benefits working dogs of various disciplines, and made several significant donations to our operations. Sadly, Paul lost his battle with ALS in 2014, but his legacy is carried on in the work current Petco Foundation Executive Director, Susanne Kogut, and her team carry on.
During the awards last Friday, Wilma spoke about not only the longtime SDF-Petco partnership, but she also presented Susanne with a very special gift from SDF – the naming of current Search Dog candidate “Paul,” in honor of Paul Jolly. (as seen in the photo above) It was a very emotional moment for everyone, many of whom knew and loved Paul Jolly. The folks at the Petco Foundation were surprised and grateful for the special nod to Paul’s memory.
It was a wonderful night honoring those who give their all to help save the lives of animals across the country. SDF is so grateful to all who have helped our Search Dogs and others throughout the years, and we were so glad we could help celebrate at this event!
See the full awards presentation and Wilma’s speech here (she takes the stage at about 11:22).
Read the full press release here.
And here are some of our favorite photos from the night, courtesy of our friends at the Petco Foundation:
