Muddy Paws Rescue, Surprised with $40K from the Petco Foundation, Now Has the Chance to Earn $25K More with Public’s Help
New York, NY 12/11/20 - Local Muddy Paws Rescue adopters’ stories about how their pets have changed their lives have earned a $40,000 Holiday Wishes grant from the Petco Foundation! Now, Muddy Paws is seeking the public’s support to help earn up to an additional $25,000 this holiday season.
The Petco Foundation, in partnership with BOBS from Skechers, invited adopters to share how their pet has changed their life to give the organization they adopted from a chance to receive lifesaving grant awards. This year, Zachary Podbela’s heartwarming story about his adopted dog, Colt, and Cristy Vo’s equally uplifting story about her adopted dog, Beth, were selected as two of 50 national winners from thousands of submissions to help Muddy Paws Rescue earn $40,000 from the Petco Foundation.
Muddy Paws Rescue was surprised during a virtual celebration on December 11. Now animal lovers can help make even more Holiday Wishes come true for Muddy Paws Rescue by voting for their stories in the People’s Choice competition at petcofoundation.org/vote from December 1-16, noon CST to help them earn up to $25,000 in additional lifesaving funds.
“We encourage our community of animal lovers to vote for our stories! If 2020 has shown us anything it’s that pets change our lives for the better. Your vote can help us earn lifesaving funds so we can bring more pets in need together with loving families.”
People’s Choice Competition
The Petco Foundation People’s Choice competition invites the public to vote for their favorite adoption story and gives the top five vote recipients the chance to receive additional grant funding from $5,000 to $25,000. The deadline to vote is December 16, 2020, noon CST. Winning organizations will be announced late December. To view all 50 finalist stories and vote for a favorite, visit petcofoundation.org/vote.
Winning Stories
Zachary Podbela had just begun fostering Colt when he briefly left his apartment, became dizzy, and rushed home to find Colt sickened and unconscious. A massive carbon monoxide leak had occurred, and after a two-night stay at the animal hospital, Colt, a hero who had truly saved the lives of all the building’s residents, became Zach’s adopted, forever companion.
Cristy Vo and her partner are high school teachers who, due to the pandemic, hadn’t been in a classroom in months. Adopting nine month-old Beth, with her gentle spirit, has broken digital and city boundaries – by her guest lecturing to their students on Zoom, and becoming best friends with multiple two and four-legged neighbors – grounding the couple to the simple joys around them every day.
Petco Foundation Holiday Wishes Campaign
The Petco Foundation selected 50 winning Holiday Wishes stories this year and will distribute a total of $860,000 in grant awards to animal welfare organizations across the country. Winning Holiday Wishes story awards ranged from $5,000 to $100,000, and adopters with winning submissions received a prize pack including a Petco gift card and BOBS from Skechers shoes. Since 2013, the Petco Foundation has awarded over $5.8 million in Holiday Wishes grants to celebrate pet adoption and help hardworking animal welfare organizations during the holiday season and year-round. For more information about the Holiday Wishes campaign, visit petcofoundation.org/holidaywishes and join the conversation on social media using #HolidayWishes.
About Muddy Paws Rescue
Muddy Paws Rescue is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that partners with open-intake shelters across the U.S to place homeless dogs into loving forever homes. Since its inception in 2016, we have saved over 4,000 lives. With a dedicated team of fosters, volunteers & animal welfare advocates, Muddy Paws Rescue strives to be New York City’s leader in responsible foster-based rescue practices.
About the Petco Foundation and BOBS from Skechers
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999, we’ve invested more than $290 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. We also partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we’ve helped more than 6.5 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.
BOBS from Skechers’ charitable collection of shoes, apparel and accessories have improved animals’ lives: over the past five years, Skechers has contributed more than $5.6 million to help more than one million shelter pets, including saving more than 709,000 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.
