Texas Border Business
Edinburg, TX – An Edinburg local’s adopter story about how their pet has changed their life has earned Palm Valley Animal Society a $5,000 Holiday Wishes grant from the Petco Foundation. Now, PVAS 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, Elisa’s heartwarming story about her adopted dog, Jingle, was selected as one of 50 national winners from thousands of submissions to help Palm Valley Animal Society earn $5,000 from the Petco Foundation.
PVAS was surprised during a virtual celebration hosted by Petco via ZOOM on Wednesday, December 10th. Now animal lovers can help make even more Holiday Wishes come true for Palm Valley Animal Society by voting for their story in the People’s Choice competition at petcofoundation.org/vote from Dec. 1 to Dec. 16, noon CST to help them earn up to $25,000 in additional lifesaving funds.
“We encourage the RGV community of animal lovers to vote for Elisa’s story! If 2020 has shown us anything it’s that pets change our lives for the better. Your vote can help us earn funds that will not only save animal lives, but bring more pets in need together with loving families,” said Donna Casamento, Executive Director at Palm Valley Animal Society.
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, visitpetcofoundation.org/vote.
Winning Story Background:
14-year-old Elisa from Edinburg, Texas had begged her parents for a dog for over 7 years. Her wish came true when her parents brought her an adoption certificate from the Palm Valley Animal Society’s Laurie P. Andrews Center. She met Jingle, the dog of her dreams, who inspired young Elisa to become active in volunteering and donating toys to PVAS and encouraged others valley-wide to do the same.
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.
