Paws & Hearts How You Can Help

There are a number of ways that you can help "Paws & Hearts" achieve its goals. One is for you and your pet to volunteer. If you wish to be a volunteer, click the Volunteer button below and fill out our application form.

Over the past few months we’ve seen many dogs in the office that were incredibly cute to look at, but they didn’t possess the personality traits to take on the responsibilities of Animal Assisted Therapy.

Being a ‘cute’ dog to look at, is so not it. The cuteness of the dog really has nothing to do with the dogs personality, nor does breeding. In order for your dog to be considered for this most rewarding type of work, look at your dog and ask yourself these questions:

1) Is my dog comfortable in all situations, i.e. coming into contact with strangers on the street, or walking the isles of Lowe’s or Home Depot?

2) Will my dog allow total strangers to come over and say hello? And will my dog greet the person with great interest and curiosty?

3) Does my dog greet visitors in my home with eagerness and affection? Does my dog want to be the center of attention and make guests happy that they’ve come over to visit?

At “Paws & Hearts” we love temperament testing potential Canine Ambassadors and coming up with winners. Consider what will be required of your dog by reviewing our website, and watch the videos of a hospital visit and a temperament test. If you think your pooch has what it takes, we really want to hear from you!

Donations are critical to our ability to function. Your generous tax deductible donations help us to fund liability insurance, utilities, office expenses and a modest payroll. To send a donation, please click on the donation button below. You can make a donation directly on line with PayPal, or mail us a check made payable to "Paws & Hearts" 74-854 Velie Way, Ste. #7, Palm Desert, CA 92260

Why Donate to Paws and Hearts?

Why donate to "Paws & Hearts"? What sets our organization apart from all the others in the valley? Good questions. First of all, "Paws & Hearts" only has one program and very simply put, all of our energy and funding goes into our mission statement of providing therapy dogs to local hospitals, long-term care facilities, cancer centers and Alzheimer's facilities.

Our overhead is very low, actually our 2012 budget was a little lower than our 2011 budget because we had a reduction in our insurance coverage, our phone charge decreased and our rent did not increase. Every dollar that a donor donates goes right into making the visits (all 130,000 in '08) possible, paying the rent on the office, the liability insurance, utilities, office supplies, the Executive Directors salary, etc.

Quite often when a donor donates to a large multi-level agency it is not always clear what the donation is used for. With us, there is only one program and our donors can rest assured that their generous donation goes towards the visits.

So the next time you, the donor, are out in the valley and you see one of our volunteers in the "Paws & Hearts" white polo shirt taking their Canine Ambassador into a facility, be proud that your donation has made that visit possible and that you are ensuring the future of our little organization!

At "Paws & Hearts" we offer a new slant on donations in memory of. We have the standard memorial donation, which if you make a donation in the name of a family member or pet and provide us with a picture; we will include the picture on our Memorial Wall and send a letter of acknowledgment to the family.

In addition we have come up with a fun way to honor family and friends. Most people who celebrate birthdays and anniversaries don't want gifts, but would rather have a donation made in their name. Consider making the donation to "Paws & Hearts." We will send out an acknowledgment letter to inform the recipient of your generosity on their behalf. A great tax deductible way to give a gift!

Please be sure to visit our thrift shop, As Good As New located at
44 855 San Pablo Ave. #3, Palm Desert, behind the Angel View Thrift Shop,
(760) 341-4660. The store is full of great items and the merchandise changes daily.

As Good As New is a terrific way to generate donations for our organization. A whopping 50% of all sales are a donation to us, so your purchases are very important, and your donations of household goods keeps a customer coming back.

Keep in mind that we are able to pick up all of your large donations, so items such as furniture, televisions, even computers can benefit us, but please keep in mind that all items must be in working and saleable condition. So next time you are cleaning out the house, please give us a call and we will be only too happy to schedule a pick up!