Brian Taylor had a successful pet grooming (宠物美容) business in New York City. “COVID-19 brought my business to a screeching halt (突然停止),” says Brian. “I had to let all my employees go. That really affected me. So as I was rebuilding my business, I felt the need to give back. I kept thinking about the restaurant industry and what they have done. Even though they were suffering themselves, they started offering meals to the people who were saving lives,” Brian continues.
“That’s when I started the Pandemic Pup Relief Fund. The idea was, whatever money a pet parent would donate would go toward free grooming for someone who couldn’t afford to have their pups done. In one month, I raised over $2,000,” Brian says.
“The satisfaction of giving help made me want to do more,” shares Brian. “I got the idea of doing a Pandemic Pup Relief Tour and put it out over social media to see if there was any interest from my colleagues to give free grooming to dogs in need. Soon, 55 professional groomers signed up to participate.” In addition, a GoFundMe account was set up and over $27,000 was raised for this amazing project.
Brian drove to each city and hosted a grooming event at a local groomer’s salon. Many of the volunteers lived within 50 miles of the locations where they signed up to help, but some came from much farther. At the NYC stop, the Diva Dogg Grooming team of eight traveled from Rhode Island. Candice of Kandi Kutz House Calls, along with a team of four, traveled from Indiana to volunteer. Some groomers from Washington, D.C. offered to travel to Wilmington, North Carolina to lend a hand at that location as well.
The first Pandemic Pup Relief Tour is now over, but it will have a lasting impact on every community they helped, and has laid the groundwork for future projects. “I think I made it fun for groomers to give back,” says Brian. “They got to connect with other groomers and learn different skill sets, as well as helping others — what could be better than that?”
【小题1】What inspired Brian to start the Pandemic Pup Relief Fund?| A．His employees’ leaving. |
| B．People who were saving lives. |
| C．The satisfaction of giving help. |
| D．Generous acts of the restaurant industry. |
| A．They taught pet owners how to attend to their dogs. |
| B．They provided free grooming services to dogs. |
| C．They collected money for dogs in need. |
| D．They built shelters for homeless dogs. |
| A．It fueled the pet salon boom. |
| B．It ran into some financial problems. |
| C．Its volunteers are from different cities. |
| D．Its purpose is to call on people to love dogs. |
| A．He is planning to launch a second tour. |
| B．It takes months to see the impact of a project. |
| C．People should help each other during hard times. |
| D．The project has brought many benefits to groomers. |
