San Diego-based PETCO announced will join the Pismo Beach, California-based Pay It Forward Foundation with its twist on the Pay It Forward inspirational bracelet, as it introduces the PAW It Forward bracelet in January 2009. The first wave of PAW it Forward bracelets will be sold for $1.00 each with proceeds going to the PETCO Foundation. The Foundation gives assistance to animal welfare groups across the country. Following the success of the first wave of PAW it Forward bracelets PETCO hopes to launch a nation-wide campaign later in 2009. The PAW It Forward campaign is intended to encourage pet adoption and pet rescue.
PETCO is a leading specialty retailer of premium pet food, supplies and services. The company operates more than 850 stores in 49 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to new in-store Adoption Centers, PETCO and the PETCO Foundation sponsor adoption events in each of their stores and communities nationwide. They also hold fundraisers which raise millions of dollars each year to help homeless animals find permanent pet parents of their own, including the new Paw if Forward campaign.
“With PETCO teaming up with Pay It Forward, it shows how powerful this simple concept really is. I am a huge animal lover and when they pitched this idea of PAW It Forward we were all for it,” said Pay It Forward Foundation board member Charley Johnson. “We expect PAW it forward to be a huge success and for the quantity of bracelets to increase rapidly over the 1st few months,” concluded Johnson. Johnson is the creator of the “Pay it Forward” bracelet and SnugZ USA executive vice president.
The Pay It Forward Foundation was established in September 2000 by Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward, and others, to educate and inspire people to realize that they can change the world.
For more information on the Pay It Forward Foundation, visit www.payitforwardtoday.org