Photo Courtesy of: Will Brent Inzana

In the past, Grandview has usually raised money for one specific child during Miracle Week; this year, the school is supporting the Miracle Dog Therapy Program through Children’s Hospital Colorado.

“One of the leadership student’s parents works at Children’s Hospital and they had suggested that we look into supporting their medical dog program,” said Student Leadership teacher Mr. Hardy.

Mrs. Lopez, another Student Leadership teacher, adds, “The other reason was that with the pandemic, we weren’t sure if we could bring a kid for the immuno-compromised situations.”

By raising money for the medical dogs, students are able to support hundreds of kids that the dogs will help during their careers.

“They see 6-10 kids per day, so every week 30-50 are being impacted by each dog,” said Lopez. “It seems small, but it’s one of those numbers that add up quickly.”

Medical dog caretaker Sarah Scott has faith that the support for the program will be huge as well.

“I hope that they [the students] feel they are contributing to something a lot bigger than just one person because this is a program and it affects hundreds and hundreds upon thousands of children over the life of the program,” said Scott.

In the program, the dogs definitely leave a lasting impression on the people they help.

“I think what’s so magical about what Halo and Galaxy do is being non-judgmental [and having] comforting support for patients in the hospital because it can be such a nerve-wracking and sometimes scary experience for kids and families,” said medical dog caretaker Devin Devlin.

Scott also agrees that dogs have a truly extraordinary relationship with humans.

“I hope that they [the students] know that dogs will always work closely with humans, but I also hope that they know that dogs have such a special bond with humans,” said Scott.

In addition to the medical dog program, there is also a Prescription Pet Program that also aids patients at Children’s Hospital.

“We have a Prescription Pet Program where volunteers who have highly trained dogs that pass a series of tests can volunteer with their dogs to provide social visits. [They can] say ‘Hi’ to kids who may miss their dogs from home,” said Scott. “The differentiation is that our dogs can be a part of procedures, they can go to ICUs, but we rely on our Prescription Pet Program to help with social visits.”

Programs like the Miracle Dog Therapy Program would not exist without private funding or donations.

“We are a 100% donor-funded program and that means that we rely on the community and private donors to fund everything that these dogs do,” said Scott. “A program like Grandview helping the medical dog program means that we’ll make sure these dogs are well taken care of and that we can secure future dogs that can work in other areas of the hospital and our program can continue to grow.”

This year, Grandview is not just supporting a kid, but an entire community of children and families who need the support from the medical dogs.

“We are so grateful for you guys for choosing this program and for the money this year,” said Devlin.