Nov. 29th "Stroll on State" was another great success. Teams included: Melanie/Greta - German Shepard; Beth/Franz - Bernedoodle; Karen/Gracie - Greater Swiss Mountain; Jennifer/Kerry -Golden Retriever; Nadine/Elsa- Great Pyrenees; Tom/Mya - Golden Retriever; April/Henny - Toy Australian Shepherd. This was our 4th year participating in the Parade.
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Carrying our banner: Sammy & Tommy Castelli from Hononegah HS
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Jennifer Furst was in the Paw Patrol's car tossing candy. Jennifer is a big supporter of 815Paws and kids in the community.
Holidays & Heroes 2025, GiGi's Playhouse
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We were blessed with so many great volunteers that made H&H25 such a memorable event for our participants. Whether it was the officers shopping with our families, the folks from Blue 815 getting everything organized and running check in, the staff of Farm & Fleet pitching in to keep everything running smoothly, the wrapping crew from Hard Rock Casino Rockford, or the amazing pups and their handlers from 815 Paws... everyone came together for the single purpose of making the holiday season special for so many individuals with Down syndrome in our community! SUCH AN AMAZING EVENT!
November 18, 2025; 6 teams from 815PAWS helped students calm their fears while giving Blood at Harlem HS's fall Blood drive for the Rock River Valley Blood Center. We offered lots of hugs, pets and even calmed a couple tears. Our teams always make a big difference at all our activities. We met the new Rockford area director and the regional director. We may be getting more opportunities.
Oct 29th, 2025 was our 3rd annual Courthouse Halloween Parade. We often forget the stress that our public servents are under and this is just one way we at 815PAWS can brighten up their day.
Trick or Treat! Today, October 31, 2025 was our 4th annual nursing home Halloween Parade, started by Denise Wessmess from Grand Victorian. Today we visited Grand Victoriank Fairhaven, and Independence Village.
Pectonica HS Blood Drive, October 27,2025. 3 teams: Randy/Lexi, Jennie/Lotti, Tom/Mya spent the afternoon with the kids giving blood. This was our 2nd year helping out the students and staff with this very important community service.
Tom & Mya spent October 15, 2025 with a delegation from the Winnebago County Courthouse. The event attended by all 9th grade students of the Rockford Public Schools Freshman Academy Expo,
Dawn and Poppy had a very nice day attending Brightpointk Dula & HV Programs on October 19, 2025.
Oct 9, 2025: John Welsh and Bruno attended the Mental Health Awareness event at Veterans Memorial Hall.
6 teams visited Danfoss Corporation Oct 9,2025. Tis is our 2nd visit and plans are in the works to make it a regular quarterly thing. Lots of hugs, I even noticed some tears as memories retired. This is what Therapy Dogs are here for.
6 teams from 815PAWS attended the Rockton Elementary School's Back to school night August 25th. Tent was up at 4:45 and kids & parents started coming at 4:50 and it didn't stop til 7:00. The dogs provided lots of lov'in tonight.
10 teams from the 815PAWS Therapy Dog Club spent 3 evenings at Harlem Middle School's "Back to School" night, August 18,19, 20.
We have members at several schools this year including: Harlem MS & Harlem HS on Monday's. Ralston Elementary on Tuesdays, Rockton Elementary (TBA), Hononegah HS on Thursdays.
August 5th was National Night Out. Here are a few pictures of some of our teams. Susie and Queenie were in Belvidere, Melanie and Greta were in Roscoe, and Beth and Franz were at Harlem High School. Other teams were scattered throughout local communities.
Four certified teams and 2 student teams spent a couple hours at the Danfoss Corporation Tuesday July 17th. Lots of love was shared and the staff was very appreciative. This will be the first of many visits to this company as they would like us back quarterly.
June 27, 2025; Five members of 815PAWS and 2 student teams spent the morning at Rockford Community Bank, N. Perryville branch. "Bark at the Bank"
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June 15, It was a beautiful day at the North Point Fit and Fun Fair!
On Tuesday, May 27, Dawn/Poppy, Robyn/Honey and Karen/Gracie went to Concentric (a local business) to comfort and show kindness to grieving workers. Recently they have experienced great loss and needed a little love and support.
May 22, 2015: Looks like teams Poppy and Gracie were a big hit today at Harlem Middle School. They got to to visit the health classes where the Kids listened to the dog’s heartbeat and learned about therapy dogs.
May 16,2025, Members of our group were honored to attend the Police Memorial Service held last night at the Crossroads Community Church in Winnebago.
Members: Randy / Lexi; Tom /Mya; Robyn /Honey; Karen / Gracie; Harli / Hobbs; Lisa / Elton; Jennifer / Franz
Harli and Tom have attended this service for the last 3 years.
Special Olympics Illinois was Saturday, May 3rd. 4 of our teams spent the day sharing their love with the runners and families.
Celeste / Winnie
Kevin / Flinn
Karen / Gracie
Tom / Mya
Rockford Community Bank
Marianne / Molly, Tom / Mya, Jen & Beth / Franz spent 5/2/25 at Rockford Community Bank.
Pecatonica HS Blood Drive
Randy / Lexi, Tom / Mya, Jeannie / Lottie
U of I Medical College Rockford
5 Teams spent time at the College of Medicine after the student finished a day of lab / lecture on Autopsy. Teams were: Dawn / Poppy, John & Bonnie / Bruno, Tom / Mya, Susie / Queenie, Jennifer / Franz.
Meet our newest member, she lives in Venice, Florida. Mya and I met her on the streets one day and she was very interested in having her pup be part of our group. Angela & Hope.
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Angela is one of many Family counselors we have in our group.
4 Teams spent the evening of April 16, at a Multicutural Fair at Belvidere Central Middle School.
Here members attended another Rockford Community Bank's special days.
Mya is getting in the grove here in Venice. She has met the ladies at City Hall, and become good friends with the Mail Lady. She also loves to go shopping at the local antique stores.
4 teams participated in an event at Rockfords School of Medicine (UIC) on February 20th. Many of the schools students were able to get some lov'in and learn just how are dogs can help in almost all situations. Teams: John/Bruno, Karen/Gracie, Susie/Queenie, Deb/Finn.
5 team members spent Tuesday, January 28. The evening event supported Freshman Transition Nite at Harlem HS. Members included: Karen / Gracie, Suzan / Stella, Melanie / Gretta, Celeste / Winnie, and April / Henry. Everyone had a great time.
