Thank you to all the members of Team Fair Shake who are running this year! If you would like to help any of our individual runners reach their $1200 fundraising goal, you can click on their individual fundraising pages on the left side of this page.

Our mission is to use therapy dogs to help underserved NYC middle school students build empathy and self-esteem. Each week, in instructor-led, curriculum-driven programs, 12 middle school students, and 3 therapy dog teams work together. One week, we focus on commands, then tricks, food puzzles, and agility. We discuss animal shelters and second chances, resilience, breed discrimination and stereotyping -- topics that often resonate with the students' own life experience. Students practice positive reinforcement, see the power of verbal and non-verbal communication, and build relationships based on trust and respect.

Honest and non-judgmental, the dogs make it safe for the kids to let their guard down and learn about themselves and each other in new ways and help them succeed in and out of school.

Please reach out to lindsay@afairshakeforyouth.org if you have any questions.