Dyer Difference Award Gives Two Paws Up to Pets and Dreamers

Dyer Difference Award Gives Two Paws Up to Pets and Dreamers
 
When a senior citizen makes the transition into a nursing home, memory care, or hospice care, there is often no one left behind to care for their beloved pets. For the Love of Paws is a local nonprofit sanctuary created to provide peace of mind to senior citizens to provide lifetime sanctuary care for these pets so they may live out their lives to some comparison to what they had prior to losing their senior owners. The sanctuary is a country farm and cage-less, but it’s far more than just a retirement home for pets who have lost their ‘people.’ The organization has also created For the Love of Paws Meals on Wheels Pet Food Program, a pet food bank and partnership with local food banks to help those in need to keep their pets, instead of abandoning or surrendering them to local shelters for lack of food.
The program provides over 15,000 pounds of pet food monthly to area food banks, senior citizens, the disabled, veterans, and individuals in the community with pets who are in need. They also provide vet care for low-income seniors, therapy dog teams to visit hospitals, senior centers, and senior care facilities. But wait, there’s more. The organization also provides AI robotic companions for memory care patients and pet emergency oxygen kits for fire rescue and first responders, too, making the organization a no-brainer as the choice for the May Dyer Difference Award in Indian River County, and recipient of two-paws up from the entire pet-loving staff family.
In St. Lucie County, the May Dyer Difference Award goes to Indian River State College and its Promise Program, which offers two years of tuition-free college to graduating high school seniors in Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Okeechobee counties—regardless of GPA. This program has already helped thousands of local students pursue Associate Degrees without incurring student debt, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. With over 23,000 students served throughout the Treasure Coast, Indian River State College has long been the go-to choice for students of all ages who wanted to transform their lives through education and whose dreams begin at the college which is right in their very own backyard. This year, the Dyer Difference Award is helping to raise funds for the Promise Program by supporting the Promise Cup, an annual golf tournament designed to gather local businesses, philanthropic leaders, and IRSC supporters for a day of golf, networking, and giving back—all in support of the IRSC Promise Program. The result is the stuff dreams are made of, and the Dyer Difference staff family is proud to be a part of helping to make dreams come true.
The Dyer Difference Award is all about celebrating the beauty and kindness in our midst. For the Dyer family and the members of the Dyer staff, the award and the $6,000 in contributions made monthly between the St. Lucie and Indian River Counties are all about helping to make a positive difference in the community. For the recipients, it’s an acknowledgement of their tireless efforts to do the same and a much-needed financial boost to help further their missions. If you’d like to nominate a non-profit organization for the Dyer Difference Award, please visit www.dyerdifference.org or find Dyer Difference on Facebook.