On Tuesday April 8th, the Whole Foods Market located at 702 Cross Hill Rd at Fort Jackson Blvd. in Columbia will donate 5% of their net sales to PAALS. If you shop at Whole Foods, please make sure to do your shopping on that day. And if you aren't yet a Whole Foods customers, you should make a special trip and see everything this special store has to offer. PAALS will also have an informational table outside the store on Saturday and Sunday (April 5th and 6th) to promote the event.

If you shop on the internet using Amazon.com, your purchases can generate funds for PAALS. Rather than using "amazon.com" use "smile.amazon.com" for your internet shopping. The prices and shipping options are the same. BUT if you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate 1/2% of most items' purchase price to PAALS. AND through March 31st, Amazon will donate an additional $5 to PAALS for each person who makes a purchase on smile.amazon.com. Make sure you select PAALS or Palmetto Animal Assisted Lifeservices (yes the space is missing between the last two words) as your charity. The graphic on the left will take you to smile.amazon.com with PAALS already selected as your charity.

April and May have turned out to be very, very full months for PAALS events. In addition to the Whole Foods and Amazon.com events described above, here are a few more upcoming events. For more information about any of them click on the links or visit PAALS's website.

Central Carolina Community Foundation will present the Midlands first 

regional day of giving on May 6th. Midlands Gives will bring the region together as one community, raising as much money and awareness as possible for Midlands nonprofits during the 24-hour online giving challenge.

Contributions for Midlands Gives on behalf of PAALS will go further on this day as many generous sponsors and contributors are providing prize incentives and a bonus pool. Click on this link for more information about PAALS participation in this day of giving.

This year's UN-Gala was the biggest event ever with nearly 300 people in attendance. Thank you to everyone who attended.

 

Of course, we couldn't hold an event like the UN-Gala without the assistance of our volunteers. It is really their efforts that make the UN-Gala PAALS' largest and most important event of the year. A big PAALS "Woof!" to all of our UN-Gala volunteers!

 

PAALS would also like to thank the following sponsors for helping us make the 2014 UN-Gala the best one yet. Click on any of the logos to visit the sponsor's website.

 

Gold Sponsors

   

   

   

 

Silver Sponsors

   

 

 

Bronze Sponsors 

    

 

Here are a few pictures from this year's UN-Gala. More will be posted on the PAALS website in a few days.

   

 

  

Many of you have seen pictures (like the one on the left) and videos of PAALS dogs training at the Columbia Airport. This type of training is invaluable in helping our dogs learn the skills and behaviors they will need to assist a future client navigate though an airport. Nothing can simulate this type of training nearly as well as experiencing the real thing!

These training excursions are possible through arrangements made by Al with Delta Airlines and the TSA staff at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. PAALS would like to thank Al and all of the others who have made this type of training possible. 

PAALS thanks Sue Doran for her generous gift which has allowed us to grow and exand the Veterans' Important PAALS (VIP) program using more rescues in the Prison PAALS program.