The Joy in Childhood Foundation Grants Facility Dog to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

The Joy in Childhood Foundation (JICF), the charitable foundation powered by Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins, is expanding the Foundation’s Dogs for Joy program to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Facility dogs can be a critical part of treatment teams, trained to do tasks like teach kids how to take a pill, keep a child calm during a medical intervention, provide incentives for a child to get out of bed for a walk, and much more. In partnership with their designated trained handler, these dogs are trained to have a positive impact on the healing process.

Since July, the Joy in Childhood Foundation’s $2M Dogs for Joy grant program has helped place a total of 11 facility dogs in nine premiere children’s hospitals nationwide, bringing joy and animal-assisted therapy to nearly 150,000 pediatric patients and their families. Launched in 2018, the program aims to dramatically increase the number of facility dogs working full time in children’s hospitals nationwide. Each hospital partner submitted a proposal to the Dogs for Joy team earlier this year, and some grantees will receive trained facility dog(s) at upcoming “Day of Joy” event. CHOP is expected to receive their facility dog during the summer of 2020.