Boyd Foundation Awards C.A.R.E. Dog Park Dash Grant

The dogs and their humans of Jefferson County will soon have a new place to play.

Back in March, the Boyd Foundation launched the Tennessee Dog Park Dash, a multi-year initiative toward making Tennessee the most pet-friendly state in America. Over the next three years, The Boyd Foundation will award $3 million in total grants for building and enhancement of dog parks in communities across the state.  One of this year’s winners of the grant was C.A.R.E. of Jefferson County, who will build the CAREfree Dog Park on the property adjoining the facility on Highway 92.

“Modeled after a very successful program pioneered by our company, PetSafe®, the Tennessee Dog Park Dash will provide funds for communities to create their own dog parks across our state,” said Randy Boyd. “Dog parks are places where people and their pets can come together to share their love for the furry friends.”

Representatives from the Boyd Foundation visited the C.A.R.E facility Tuesday morning to award the check for the new project.

Honey Miller, President of C.A.R.E. of Jefferson County, welcomed her guests with many thanks.  “I really want to thank several people” Miller stated “First of all I would like to thank Jefferson County and Mayor Alan Palmieri for their support and use of the landfill, where the dog park is going to go.  I also want to thank former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale  for his support.  The Boys and Girls Club of Dumplin Valley, the Chamber of Commerce, the Jefferson County Post and the Standard Banner for their support and promoting the dog park. Dr. Priscilla Seaton with Snippet has been a great partner with us and helping our community.  She is dedicated to our community and the animals of this community.  Also for their endorsement, Trent Steele with UpbeatK9 and Amy Hodges Yoga who will help us with some of our innovative programs once we get the dog park up and running.  Also in this development phase, we are going to need a lot of support, so I also want to thank Scotty Whitehead, he’s the owner of Full Service Property Management for his dedication and support.  Also the members of C.A.R.E., particularly Gene Ringa, who helped write the grant, and the C.A.R.E Board members, volunteers and employees who were there in this process”.

“This is really a highlight to animal control and animal shelter and care we have in our county.  This grant is going to go a long way” Mayor Palmieri said in a brief statement.  “As some of you may know, I used to not be a big dog and cat person, but I’ve spent the last year of my life in office dedicated to C.A.R.E. and animal control.  The reason I have is because I was educated on the importance of animal control in our county.  What it does to distinguish us in that we are able to branch out in doing things that are of importance to the residents of our community.  We have kids and the elderly that need pets for comfort as well.  It’s a lot more than a shelter. It makes the community a lot more like it should be.  Randy has been so good with awarding money through the grant program, and we are so fortunate here in Jefferson County to be the recipient of the $25,000 to help make a dog park.  I want to thank Honey, the Board, and the volunteers for all the hard work they do”.

Randy Boyd, who heads up the Boyd Foundation, offered his congratulations: “I would like to say from Jenny and I, congratulations to C.A.R.E. and to Jefferson County.  This was not something like Jen and I choosing favorites. If we were choosing favorites, you would have been a shoe-in, but they actually earned it.  There were 50 cities from all over the state that competed for these grants.  Jefferson County and C.A.R.E. won because of the hard work of the Mayor and Honey Miller and everybody that did the grant application.  During the process they showed engagement, they showed vision, and they showed great planning so you guys earned it, congratulations”.

“Jenny and I have been blessed in so many ways, and our love for pets led to a company that has given us more success than we ever dreamed possible,” said  Boyd. “It seems only right to give back to the pets and the people we owe so much to.”