Angel on a Leash (10 page)

This was a perfect description of the relationship that we had with Ronald McDonald House. They had never allowed a dog in the House until we got there with Angel On A Leash, which Cherilyn introduced in 2006, her first year on the job there.

Ronald McDonald House president Bill Sullivan, always saying the right thing and saying it well, told the celebrating group: “Therapy dogs bring good cheer and a sense of normalcy to the children at Ronald McDonald House.” Bill is my hero; he battles for every one of the kids who come under his care at the House.

Mutual of America also presented five awards for special contributions to the success of the partnership. Angel On A Leash teams Richard Tegtmeier with Tucker and Gay Cropper with Mr. Gruffyd Babayan were recognized for their dedication to their volunteer work at the House; Michele Siegel of the ASPCA for her tireless efforts in training and registering Angel On A Leash teams through Delta Society; Greer Griffith for her work as Angel's director of programs; and Chaplain Cherilyn Frei, Ronald McDonald House's director of family support, for creating and integrating the therapy dog program at the House.

As part of the celebration later that week, eight of our therapy dog teams rang the ceremonial closing bell for the NASDAQ stock market. Families from the House helped Lille, Belle, Lilly, Mr. Gruffyd Babayan, Fauna, Tucker, Teigh, and Angel ring the bell as Ralph Vogel, director of volunteer services for the House; Thomas Moran, CEO of Mutual of America; and I were the guys in suits representing our organizations.

As it turned out, the ceremony also helped celebrate the biggest one-day gains for stocks in about four months, with the NASDAQ Composite up 7.1 percent and the Dow Jones up 5.8 percent for the day.

Let's give credit where credit is due: the Angel On A Leash teams work little miracles wherever they go!

In our first few years of existence, before Angel On A Leash became an independent organization, we were a part of the festivities of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. For a number of years, proceeds from the sale of the annual dog show poster went to Angel.

During the evening competition, Westminster recognized the contributions of Angel On A Leash therapy dog teams in the community. Angel teams; patients and families from Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Hackensack University Medical Center, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, and more; and doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals were introduced onto the floor to an enthusiastic response from the packed house at the Garden.

The most enthusiastic response came in 2009 with the introduction of Uno, the 2008 Best in Show-winning Beagle; Jessie Kuebler, a pediatric oncology patient from Ronald McDonald House; and US Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Bleill, who had lost both of his legs in an explosion in Iraq. Uno was doing appearances all over the country for Angel On A Leash, including throwing out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals' baseball game, where Jessie, who lived in St. Louis, accompanied him on the field. Josh was a true American hero who had been visited by Uno when he had been at the Walter Reed Amputee Patient Clinic the previous spring. In fact, Josh had joined the Angel On A Leash board to help coordinate therapy dog programs with military hospitals, and Uno became one of our celebrity “spokesdogs.”

People were up on their feet, cheering and crying for them all. It was a crowd reaction matched only by the response to Westminster's tribute to the search and rescue dogs of September 11 back in 2002.

The 2009 presentation got the attention of a gentleman named Joe Yanek, who came to our booth at the show the next day and wanted to help us with a grant from the Fluor Foundation to expand what Angel and Uno had done with Josh at Walter Reed. The Fluor Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 500 international engineering firm.

We did a little research and proposed a therapy dog program for the Fisher House at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, home of the Fluor Corporation's largest corporate headquarters. The Fisher Houses are homes away from home for families of patients receiving medical care at VA and other major military medical centers around the country. They are somewhat similar to Ronald McDonald Houses, with housing fees for the military members underwritten by the Fisher House Foundation.

The Fluor grant focuses on supporting the rehabilitation of our wounded military while also supporting their family members. We staged workshops in Houston and got a number of volunteer Angel teams—employees from Fluor Corporation's Houston Center and their dogs—to work quite quickly.

This was great. It represented a new audience for us, and we were thrilled to be able to create a program to reach our military heroes and their families. We thank the Fluor Foundation for its generous, continued support, and we especially thank Joe for making it happen.

In 2009, Angel On A Leash was part of a history-making event on the weekend before Westminster with its first ever Angel On A Leash Best In Show benefit, a beautiful event hosted by Ruth Pereira at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel across the street from Madison Square Garden. It was the greatest assembly of show dogs ever in one place, with five Westminster Best in Show winners dating back to 2001. The attendees got to see Uno, the Beagle (2008); James, the English Springer Spaniel (2007); Rufus, the Colored Bull Terrier (2006); Spice Girl, the Miniature Poodle (2002); and JR, the Bichon Frise (2001). Never had so many Westminster Best in Show dogs been in the same place at the same time.

They all looked to me as if they could still run right into the show ring. The party was sold out and attracted media from New York and the dog show world, resulting in coverage from the
New York Times,
MSNBC, the Associated Press, Animal Planet, and more.

The Best in Show Benefit was back at the Affinia in 2010, hosted again by Ruth in a sold-out room. In 2011, with so many of the dogs hitting senior-citizen status, the party was changed to an awards affair for current Angel On A Leash teams. Ruth's party has become a wonderful annual event that we all have come to anticipate with great excitement every February.

In 2011 as well, an additional event was staged as an Angel On A Leash benefit. “Big City, Little Dog” was staged at the New Yorker Hotel and featured a fashion show for local celebrities and their dogs. New York City's New Yorkie pet apparel dressed the runway pups in its new spring line. Schmitty the Weather Dog and meteorologist Ron Trotta (the official weather team for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show) were among the New York personalities and celebrities who walked the runway to raise money for Angel On A Leash.

Elly McGuire and Ron chaired the event with huge support from the New Yorker Hotel. As my Aunt Caroline always wrote in her letters, a good time was had by all.

Angel has also enjoyed a number of other unique fundraisers through the years. For example, America's top ballroom dancers were the stars of “Ballroom Unleashed” in 2010, a beautiful event produced by Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith, the acclaimed choreographers of
So You Think You Can Dance.
From 2006 to 2009, Doyle New York Gallery's chairman and CEO Kathleen M. Doyle and senior vice president Louis Webre hosted a champagne brunch benefit in their private preview of the gallery's annual “Dogs in Art” sale. And in 2008, the second-grade class at New York City's PS 87, taught by Bebe Morrissey, produced a successful walkathon in Central Park.

Every fall, Ronald McDonald House New York holds a block party in its Upper East Side neighborhood to share its work and its accomplishments with the neighbors. The therapy dog program is always a big part of the event. We had our own table, and we would tell people about our work at the House and recruit new volunteers. Cherilyn would always put on a blessing of the animals, and that brought out a lot of the neighbors and their pets.

In 2010, Cherilyn helped engineer the proclamation of New York State Therapy Dog Day for October 2, the day of the block party. The proclamation, presented by State Senator Liz Krueger, recognized the partnership of Ronald McDonald House New York and Angel On A Leash in providing a therapy dog program for the young pediatric oncology patients and their families.

The proclamation by State Senator Krueger read:

WHEREAS, Ronald McDonald House of New York, Inc., provides a temporary “home-away-from-home” for pediatric cancer patients and their families in a supportive and caring environment, which encourages and nurtures the development of child-to-child and parent-to-parent support systems; and

WHEREAS, Ronald McDonald House of New York, Inc., is the largest facility of its type in the world; and

WHEREAS, on October 2nd, 2010, Ronald McDonald House of New York is hosting its Third Annual Block Party, featuring food, live music, entertainment, safety awareness, health screenings, and educational programs, on East 73rd Street between First and York Avenues; and

WHEREAS, the Ronald McDonald House New York-Angel On A Leash program provides therapy dogs for pediatric cancer patients and their families; and

WHEREAS, Angel On A Leash enhances health and quality of life through play and enrichment activities which promote the human-animal bond, and

WHEREAS, therapy dogs help boost morale, self-esteem, and overall feelings of well-being for those dealing with chronic and life-threatening illnesses; and

WHEREAS, studies have shown that petting a dog releases beneficial hormones into the bloodstream known to be associated with healing and feelings of well-being; and

WHEREAS, by initiating and maintaining the relaxation response, pets take a person's focus off of their pain and elevate their mood; and

WHEREAS, children who spend time with pets develop higher levels of empathy and learn responsibility; and

WHEREAS, therapy dog programs such as Angel On A Leash are deserving of recognition for their contributions to the health and well-being of New Yorkers; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that I, State Senator Liz Krueger declare that October 2nd, 2010, is hereby recognized as New York State Therapy Dog Day.