ST. CLOUD – When 6-year-old Eli arrived at Pet Evolution in St. Cloud on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 15, he had no idea he would be going home with a new friend.
As he and his family entered the store, three representatives of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, dressed in blue T-shirts, were hiding in a back room of the store with a twelve-week-old German Shepherd puppy.
When they got the green light, volunteer Teresa Hyde came out and presented Eli with his new puppy.
Eli stared at the German Shepherd in shock. His mother Ashley told him they had only come to the pet supply store to pick out a collar.
Lauren Breunig / St. Cloud LIVE
When Ashley asked Eli what the puppy’s name was, he quickly said, “Angel.”
Eli, who lives with his family in Viking, Minnesota, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of five. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted Eli’s wish for the dog. For privacy reasons, the organization is not releasing the last names of the children and their families.
Pet Evolution gifted Eli a $600 shopping spree so he could pick out everything Angel would need. Eli came prepared and had a list in mind, so he walked the store aisles with purpose and determination.
Lauren Breunig / St. Cloud LIVE
Eli did a lot of research to find exactly the breed of dog he wanted, said his grandmother Paula, who accompanied Ashley, Eli and his little sister Hazel on the four-hour drive from Viking in the far northwest of the state.
“He was looking for a big guard dog,” Paula said. “He really wanted a protector. Besides, German Shepherds are used by the police.”
Eli had dreamed of becoming a SWAT officer, specifically a sniper with a police dog, since he became ill a year ago, Ashley said.
“There are really no words to describe (the feeling of watching Eli get his puppy),” Ashley said. “I know he was jumping for joy inside.”
In addition to getting Angel to Eli, Make-A-Wish arranged for police dogs from Waite Park and St. Cloud to visit and provided Eli with a Halloween costume as a SWAT officer.
“People only call us when bad things happen, so it was nice to get out and do things like this,” said Justin Wagman, who has been a dog handler for the St. Cloud Police Department for three years.
Lauren Breunig / St. Cloud LIVE
Wagman and his dog Riggs greeted Eli, showed him the inside of their police car and demonstrated some training techniques.
St. Cloud Police Sergeant Roger Baumann also gave Eli a small badge.
“We love doing these things,” Baumann said.
Pet Evolution, a boutique pet supply store at 2716 W. Division St., has partnered with Make-A-Wish to grant wishes since 2021. The foundation reached out to the company and asked if it would donate a bag of pet food to a girl named Kayli who wanted a St. Bernard.
“We thought, ‘A bag? We can do better than that,'” Rian Thiele, CEO and co-founder of Pet Evolution, told St. Cloud LIVE at the event. “We decided to donate a year’s supply of food and go on a shopping spree with Kayli.”
Thiele stuck with the experience and wanted to continue the partnership with Make-A-Wish in Pet Evolution stores across the country.
Pet Evolution was founded in Minnesota and has eight locations in the state, according to Crystal Schweim, public relations and communications manager for Pet Evolution. There are also stores in Virginia, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.
Lauren Breunig / St. Cloud LIVE
Thiele helped Eli and his family look around the store on Thursday and answered questions about things like what food they should buy or what toys would be best for Angel.
“Many of these children do not have a fulfilling life, so we want to give them a nice memory – something that will make them forget what is happening,” said Thiele. “This is our way of giving something back.”
To volunteer or donate to help children like Eli, visit wish.org/minnesota/ways-help-us.
To qualify for a Make-A-Wish Foundation scholarship, a child must:
- Be between 2 1/2 and 18 years old.
- You suffer from a serious illness, such as a progressive, degenerative or malignant disease that puts your life in danger.
- Have not received a wish from another wish fulfillment organization.
Anyone can refer a child to receive a scholarship by visiting the Make-A-Wish website at wish.org/refer-a-child.
