Paws Forward Foundation

05/31/2026

🌮 Food, Fun, and Future Heroes! 🐾

​The Glow Forward Twilight Walk & Festival is almost here, and we are bringing the absolute BEST of Northwest Arkansas directly to Luther George Park!

​Come hungry and get ready to shop, because our vendor village and food truck lineup are going to be incredible. Whether you are walking, dancing, or just here for the dogs, we have your Saturday night sorted!

​Here is what you can expect in our festival zone:

​🍔 Gourmet Food Trucks: Serving up amazing late lunches and early dinners. Come grab a bite to fuel up before the sun goes down and the glow sticks come out!

​🛍️ Local Community Vendors: Shop unique local goods, connect with community partners, and support the small businesses that make NWA so special.

​🎸 Live Entertainment: Grab your food and grab a seat! We’ll have a full lineup keeping the energy high, featuring Randy Forst, Soldier Songs and Voices, DJ Travis Blakney, and Wilderness.

​🐶 Meet the Future Heroes: Stop by our special station to meet the Paws Forward puppies-in-training! (Warning: high probability of puppy kisses).
​The Best Part?

Every time you come out to celebrate with us, you are helping shine a light on women's mental health and veteran recovery. Your support allows us to train life-changing, ADI-standard service dogs—specializing in psychiatric support, medical alerts, and mobility assistance—for our heroes and MST survivors.
​Grab your friends, bring your appetite, and let’s light up Springdale! ✨

​📍 Where: Luther George Park, Springdale

🗓️ When: Saturday, June 6th
⏰ Festival Kickoff: 3:00 PM (Glow Walk steps off at 8:30 PM!)

Click Here:👇​https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/glow-forward-night-walk

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05/31/2026

Subject/Headline: Welcome to the Team, Casey! 🐾

​We are incredibly honored to welcome Casey Patterson to the Paws Forward Foundation family! As a United States Marine Corps Veteran and a passionate advocate for Veteran wellness, Casey brings a wealth of lived experience and professional expertise to our mission.

​During her time as a Whole Health Coach at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Fayetteville, Casey helped Veterans reclaim their well-being through personalized, holistic care. Now, she is bridging the gap between traditional recovery and the transformative human-canine bond.

​Casey plays a critical role in our ecosystem. Not only does she help our Veteran handlers build sustainable wellness practices and navigate ADA accommodations and Public Access testing with their psychiatric and mobility assistance dogs, but she also supports the heart of our organization.

Casey provides vital mental health and trauma-informed guidance to our dedicated trainers, puppy socializers, and volunteers.
​Please join us in welcoming Casey! We are so grateful to have her strong voice for healing, resilience, and community connection on our team.

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05/30/2026

🌟 We are officially ONE WEEK OUT! 🌟

​Next Saturday, June 6th, is our Glow Forward Twilight Walk & Festival, and the countdown is on!

​This event is entirely about moving forward together, and that means bringing your whole crew. Bring yourself, your mom, your grandmothers, the kids, your cousins, your nieces and nephews—literally everyone is invited to come out and celebrate resilience, healing, and community with us!

​Starting at 3:00 PM at Luther George Park, the festival is completely free to attend and packed with amazing things to experience:

​🎶 Free Live Music: Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and enjoy the awesome bands!

​🍔 Incredible Food Trucks: Come hungry and grab dinner from some of the best local trucks.

​🛍️ Vendor Village & Community Resources: Shop local and connect with wonderful organizations.

​🕊️ An Epic Pigeon Release: A beautiful, symbolic, and unforgettable moment you absolutely won't want to miss.

​Want to join the actual walk? You can register for our signature 2-Mile Twilight Walk right there on the spot, all the way up until 8:00 PM! So whether you plan ahead or make a last-minute decision to walk with us, we will be ready for you.
​Let’s build each other up, light up the night, and make this a Saturday to remember. See you next week! 🐾✨

​📍 Luther George Park | Springdale, AR
⏰ Festival Opens: 3:00 PM
🚶‍♀️ Walk Registration Open Until: 8:00 PM

​📲 Click the link in our bio to register for the walk right now! https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/glow-forward-night-walk

Can’t attend? That’s okay.
You can still help by getting this in front of someone who can.

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05/29/2026

It is always a bittersweet moment when one of our dogs embarks on a new journey, but today, our team is overflowing with pride! 🐾💙

​At Paws Forward Foundation , we hold our dogs to the highest standards of public access and task work. A crucial part of our training program is rigorous behavioral assessment. We evaluate every dog to ensure they have the right temperament for psychiatric, mobility, or medical alert service work—which requires a very specific, calm demeanor.

​However, we also believe in purpose-driven placement. During his evaluations, our Head Trainer, Erica, identified that Winston possessed an incredibly high working drive, exceptional environmental confidence, and a sharp focus that was pointing him in a different direction. He didn't want to be a quiet service dog; his specific energy and intelligence meant he was destined for high-stakes, active scent work.

​Because we are committed to seeing every dog thrive in the career that best suits their natural abilities, we are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership! Winston has officially been transferred to Caleb Landers and the highly specialized team at 3R K9 Search Foundation , a dedicated search and rescue organization serving Missouri and Arkansas. 🌲🔍

​The moment Winston met Caleb and saw the search and rescue equipment, his working drive took over. It was immediate proof that Erica’s assessment was spot-on, and that he is exactly where he is meant to be.

​To Caleb and the 3R K9 Search Foundation: thank you for welcoming Winston into your ranks. We are honored to collaborate with organizations that share our dedication to purpose-driven working dogs and community service.

​Join us in wishing Winston the absolute best in his new career! We can't wait to see the lives you help save, buddy. You will always be a part of the Paws Forward family's legacy. 🐕‍🦺✨

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05/28/2026

🎉 Dread is rocking the Leave-it command🐾

Susan Forbes and Erica Gibbs Jones

05/28/2026

Please share

UPDATE: Ivan has been located, and is safe. Thank you.

Missing Juvenile, Ivan Isaias Pivaral-Santos, 17 years old. He was last seen in the area of W. Wedington Dr. on May 27, 2026 at 11:00 P.M. He was wearing black pants, grey sweatshirt, and riding a red bicycle.

If located or if anyone has information regarding his whereabouts, please contact the Fayetteville Police Department at 479-587-3555 or call 911 immediately.

05/27/2026

✨ Glow Forward: Together We Rise! 🐾🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

​It's almost here! Our signature Glow Forward Twilight Walk & Festival is happening on June 6th at Luther George Park in Springdale, AR! 🌟

​This event is so much more than just a walk. It's about movement. It's about moving forward, together, as a community! We're coming together to:

​✨ Move forward together: Celebrating resilience and unity.
💖 Heal and support: Offering connection to those who need it most.
💪 Build each other up: Showing that no one walks alone.
🐶 Pawsitive Support: Registering for the walk is the perfect way to show your commitment to the Paws Forward Foundation and our mission to provide specialized service dogs.

​📢 T-shirt sales have ended, but registration for the walk is still open! You don't need the official shirt to show your heart. Grab your friends, your family, your neighbors, and your four-legged friends (on leashes, of course!) and get ready to light up the night.

​Think glowing accessories, bright smiles, and a feeling of pure community power! This is for everyone. Let’s make this a night to remember! 💚

​Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026
Location: Luther George Park, Springdale, AR
Festival: 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Twilight Walk: Starts at 8:00 PM (Registration required)

​Ready to make a difference? Click the link in our bio to register for the walk today! No shirt, no problem – your presence is the real power! 🚀

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/glow-forward-night-walk

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05/25/2026

A Promise to Our Deployed and a Tribute to Our Fallen 🇺🇸

​Over the holiday weekend, we received this incredibly moving photo of Sarah’s daughter taking time to honor our heroes at the cemetery. She is proudly representing Paramount Plumbing, one of the amazing local businesses whose name you can see on the back of her shirt.

​This specific shirt holds a lot of meaning for us at the Paws Forward Foundation . It was created for our recent Family Day event, dedicated to the families of our currently deployed soldiers. The local businesses listed on the back stepped up to sponsor the t-shirt fund, sending a clear, unified message from our community to our troops overseas: We are here for you when you get back.

Whether our returning veterans need the support of a highly trained psychiatric or mobility assistance dog, a community that understands their journey, or a safe space to heal, Paws Forward is ready. Thank you to Paramount Plumbing and all our local sponsors for standing with us, and to the families holding down the home front.

05/25/2026

URGENT COMMUNITY ASK: Who wants to host a high-impact donation drive? 🐾📦

​Hey everyone! The Paws Forward Foundation has secured an amazing collaboration with The DEB Project Deserving Enriched & Blessed- Thrift Boutique (supporting local foster youth) and Bo's Blessings (supporting deployed troops), and we need your help!

​We are planning a massive, dual-purpose donation drive on Saturday, August 1st to capitalize on Tax-Free Weekend.

​The Problem: We need a location to host our drop-off stations from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
​What We Bring:
​Heavy, feel-good foot traffic to your location.
​A fully volunteer-staffed event.

​Our incredible Paws Forward Service Dogs in training! (Yes, there will be puppies practicing their public access skills!)
​What We Need:
​A safe parking lot or easily accessible lobby/event space.
​Permission to set up a few tables and donation bins.

​Are you a local business owner with a good-sized parking lot? A church with an empty pavilion on Saturdays? A community center looking to give back?

​If you are willing to let us set up shop and help foster kids and deployed heroes, please DM me or comment below! Let's show up for those who need us most. Please SHARE to help us find a home for this event! 🇺🇸💛

05/24/2026

We are looking for an additional food truck to be at our Glow Forward event. June 6th from 3pm to 6pm at Luther George Park. We were thinking a BBQ, Taco, tex mex, or burger type truck. If you would like be the truck, please dm us.