Even if cancer can survive chemotherapy, it’s no match, at least for a moment, for the smile that shines from underneath a pile of puppies.
Pile of Puppies is a Portland-based nonprofit that brings large litters of puppies to the homes of chronically or terminally-ill children.
It was founded by Jennifer Trepanier, a woman who grew up with a chronic inflammatory condition and developed an autoimmune disorder while pregnant, who experienced the uncontainable joy of a puppy pile-on.
Her coworker had brought a litter of Swiss mountain dog puppies into work as a surprise, and the resulting exhilaration brought Pile of Puppies to life.
Managed through donations, fundraising activities, and grant money, the $55,000-a-year nonprofit works by identifying a child in need of the pick-me-up potential of a puppy patdown before sending a team of volunteers to set up a play pen and line it with absorbent pads.
The child is positioned inside, and the litter is released.
Pile of Puppies has organized 2,000 such visits, among which was a visit to Julia Stults’ house. The now-16 year old high school junior was in the depths of a struggle against ulcerative colitis, and didn’t have many reasons to smile. She remembers getting the puppy treatment as a bright spot in a childhood marred by pain and dulled by medication.
“It’s those little, tiny special things that are like, ‘Yeah, having (ulcerative colitis) sucks, but then I wouldn’t get all the puppies.’”
Her mother, Dina Stults, was so affected by the experience that she’s gone on to help Trepanier organize other events, and told the Oregonian that watching your child regain some of the joy lost to illness is an incomparable relief.
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“It’s about them as humans and how they interact with the puppies — which things they like and don’t like,” Stults said. “They just open up. They’re chatty, and they brighten up. It’s a very enriching experience for a volunteer.”
For a $100 donation, you can give a Pile of Puppies experience to a child in pain, while another $25.00 will memorialize the special day with a Pile of Puppies plush puppy to stay by their side when pain or fatigue begin to take their toll.
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