Snowy Pines Paws for Purpose

Hi, I’m Christi Bodwell, and I’m seeking your support in helping our family secure a life-changing service dog for our son. We are working with Snowy Pines Paws for Purpose to bring home Pearl—a female white Labrador who is undergoing intensive training over the next 18 months to provide emotional and calming support, essential assistance as he navigates daily challenges, and companionship.

A service dog like Pearl can make an extraordinary difference for a teen who can experience challenges with anxiety, sensory overload, and stressful transitions. When trained Pearl will provide calming support through touch, help with emotional regulation, and offer grounding during overwhelming moments. She will act as a steady, confidence-boosting companion in social settings, making daily interactions smoother and less stressful. With Pearl by his side, our son will have increased comfort, independence, and stability—both at home and out in the community.

Pearl’s specialized training and placement will cost about $30,000, and every donation brings us one step closer to giving my son the stability, confidence, and independence he (like everyone) deserves.

Your generosity will help to:

• Fund Pearl’s intensive service dog training

• Support Snowy Pines’ mission to empower individuals with disabilities

• Provide ongoing resources that enhance clients’ emotional and physical well-being

Thank you for considering a gift to help make this goal possible. With your support, Pearl will soon become a loyal partner who brings comfort, safety, and joy into my son’s life. Every contribution, no matter the size, truly makes a difference.

This year for Luke's birthday, in lieu of gifts, I am asking for donations to Snowy Pines Paws for Purpose to support Luke in getting a service dog.

As many of you know Luke has autism and needs extra assistance keeping himself calm and safe. This incredible organization is dedicated to providing highly trained service dogs to individuals with disabilities like Luke, empowering them to live more independent lives. Your contributions can help make a real difference.

All proceeds will go directly to Snowy Pines Paws for Purpose to help with the costs and training.

Thank you so much for your generosity!

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Snowy Pines Paws for Purpose, for our sons Cardiac Alert Service dog and any donation will help go towards the total of the dog.

Our 12 year old son Christopher has had heart issues since he was born. He was born with transposition of the great arteries. He had open heart surgery at 4 days old to correct his heart. Fast forward to last year 2023, our son’s heart has many problems with it. We found out that he will need another heart surgery in the future. The arteries they switched at birth are very narrow. We knew that in the future they would have to fix that issue with stents to help keep them from closing. But, never would we have imagined the other problems that also would have developed. There is a hole in between the top two chamber that is a decent size, this is causing blood to be pushed to the left side of his heart everytime it pumps. From the heart having to work so hard to get rid of the extra blood on the left side, his heart has started to swell. Also on the same chamber he has an aortic aneurysm. Now this is the biggest issue to date. If that were to explode, there is a high chance he won’t make it through.  Also have an aortic valve leak which has gotten much worse the more the time goes on. Because of all the issues our son has gone from a happy, running around kid to a kid that all he wants to do is lay around. The doctors won’t fix him until he is sicker. (Don’t understand that) We have to watch our son go from a regular kid to a kid that won’t even be able to get out of bed. So as a parent you try everything you can to help with the burden an pain our kids go through! 

With all of this going on it has raised our stress level to max. Our son is scared something is gonna happen to him. He lives everyday in pain an worry. After much research on how to help him, we found Snowy White Pines, they birth, raise a train Cardiac Alert Service Dog. A Cardiac Alert Service dog would Alert us to any changes in his heart or blood pressure. This would allow us the chance to get him the help he needs before he even feels the pain from his heart. With the aneurysm he has he has a high chance of it exploding, if that happens it would be detrimental. The dog would allow us to know the change before that happens. It would also allow Chris an us as parents to relax a little bit. Haven’t got much sleep since we found out. The dog would go everywhere with him including school. So we could worry just a tiny bit less. The dogs name is Atlas, he should be available August of 2025. He is currently in training. 

The total of the dog is $50,000, we never thought it would be that much. But the training that goes into the dog is long a they have to come out perfect to pass. So we are asking for help in raising the funds we need to help our son. This Go Fund me is linked directly to Snowy Pines. Also if you donated you get a tax deductible receipt.

Our family wants to thank you for taking the time to read our story. It means more to us than we can ever say. God Bless

**Little back story in 2010 I had a daughter named Savanna Mae, she was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (she was born without the left side of her heart) she was also 10 weeks premature. They did heart surgery but unfortunately her little body could not take a huge surgery being so little. She was born April 7,2010 an she passed alway April 25,2010. Losing a child is the hardest thing anyone can go through. So the thought of losing another is unbelievable. She would be 14 if she was still on this earth. The best part is Chris was born on the day she was due! Like she was giving her brother to me! 

Hi. My name is Caden! I was born with 1p36 Deletion Syndrome which caused a variety of complex medical issues. A few of the medical issues are Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (epilepsy), a heart defect known as Left Ventricular Non Compaction (LVNC), a compromised immune system, cortical visual impairment, among several others medical complications. I am non-verbal and rely on my parents, my brother and my wheelchair for mobility. My parents have longed and yearned to make my life easier and me happier in all ways which led them to searching for a service dog for several years now.

Recently, we have learned of a place nearby that we can get obtain a service dog for me(Caden)! It is close to our home for training and medial purposes which would allow easier access for the dog and I to get to know each other as it learns to help me. It being closer to my home is a plus as we already travel so much for doctors and hospital visits. A service dog would truly enhance and help my own quality of life; while providing companionship along with emotional and social support.

A service dog can help provide deep therapy pressure when needed for anxiety and restlessness in stressful situations, provide medical alerts, retrieving items for daily use, assisting in providing emotional support, companionship, and communication. A service dog would assist in emotional well being from becoming overly stressed and keeping my highly stimulation and anxiety to a minimum.

Would you please consider helping me and my family in obtaining a service dog through Snowy Pines and Paws for a Purpose to help me achieve goals and allow my parents to know I have a best friend in a lovable, caring four legged dog. Thank you.

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Snowy Pine's Paws for Purpose, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

Snowy Pine's Paws for Purpose is a non-profit organization that helps meet the expenses of training a service dog and provides their masterfully bred and trained dogs to those with a variety of a physical needs.

Please consider donating to this campaign for Lexi to get a service dog to help her with mobility and safety and help her gain more independence and confidence.

Lexi has been struggling with a litany of health conditions since she was twelve years old and has seen great dogs come and go in that time. Neither of those dogs were trained for medical assistance, but each learned instinctively how to help with ease different symptoms. The pain of losing those companions and caretakers would be some eased by a new dog that could help her with her symptoms and provide her with the ability to be more independent, giving her more confidence in managing life with her disability.

Hi! I am hoping this is a good way to reach all of Peyton’s friends and family. As most of you know, we have been working with several doctors at Mayo Clinic to find a diagnosis for the seizures she is having. Last week, we finally got a diagnosis. Peyton has Functional Neurological Disorder. This is not something that can be treated with medication, and she will need to have several therapies to learn to cope and maintain a level of lifestyle that she can thrive in. She is no longer working or driving due to the seizures being a daily occurrence. We have been looking into options to learn & assist her. One thing that would benefit her the most is a service dog trained to alert when seizures may happen. Some of the places that train the dogs for this cost quite a bit and, unfortunately, insurance does not cover the cost.

Please help Peyton by donating to this fund so we can know that when she is alone or outside of the home she would be safe. We have talked with this amazing organization about her condition and what we are looking for. If you choose to donate through please make sure to attach her full name in the comments so it can go towards her.

Thank you and please continue the positive thoughts & prayers coming for her.