The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Announces Expansion, Naming of the Gerald B. Shreiber Pet Therapy Program

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) January 30, 2014

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announces the naming of the Gerald B. Shreiber Pet Therapy Program in honor of Mr. Shreiber’s longstanding dedication to the program, and its future expansion.

Gerald B. Shreiber, founder, chairman, president and chief executive officer of South Jersey-based J&J Snack Foods Corp., was in attendance along with his family, J&J Snack Food Employees, CHOP patient-families, pet therapy teams and therapy dogs, at an event at the hospital today to unveil plans to expand the program.

Over the next two years, the newly-named pet therapy program, which falls under the umbrella of CHOP’s Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy department, will:

   •          Recruit 60 new pet therapy teams (in addition to its current 24), for a total of 80
   •          Double the number of weekly pet therapy visits from one visit per unit to two
   •          Expand pet therapy to additional units (from its current 13) throughout the hospital and to CHOP Care Network locations outside of the main campus, such as the Rehabilitation Departments in the new King of Prussia Care Center and forthcoming Buerger Center
   •          Hire a full-time coordinator, who will recruit, screen, and train new therapy dog teams and to spread awareness of the program
   •          Enlist more dogs and patients in clinical research that will help advance pet therapy and pediatric medicine in general

“For 13 years, Gerald Shreiber has been one of the strongest supporters and advocates of pet therapy at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. His support has allowed us to greatly expanded the size of our Paw Partners pet therapy program and has provided funds for research into healing effects of pet therapy after a treatment and during hospitalization,” said CHOP CEO Steven M. Altschuler, MD. “To recognize Gerald Shreiber’s vision, compassion, and generosity in partnering with us to improve the health and happiness of the kids we treat, we are honored to name the pet therapy program the Gerald B. Shreiber Pet Therapy Program.”

“CHOP is an amazing institution. I cannot think of a better cause than one that combines my love of children and dogs. There are few joys greater than seeing a smile on a sick child’s face. I am elated to be a founding partner of the pet therapy program,” said Gerald B Shreiber.

An avid animal lover, Mr. Shreiber also serves on several animal-rights organizations, including his own Shreiber Animal Foundation Enterprise, and was honored by the Pennsylvania SPCA in December 2012. Mr. Shreiber also serves on a number of boards including the Gerald B. Shreiber Foundation, the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, North American Wildlife Park Foundation and the Jewish Times of South Jersey.

“At the core of CHOP’s philosophy is our commitment to caring for the whole patient, physically and emotionally — to help distract them from their treatment, bring a smile to their face, or to ease the difficulty of being away from their homes, families, and friends, sometimes for weeks and months,” said Elana Brewer, director of CHOP’s Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy department. “Programs like pet therapy, entertainment, or creative arts therapy receive little or no government funding and are not reimbursed by insurance- but they define the hospital and its role in the lives of our patient families. Thus, they rely on the generosity and compassion of volunteers and donors like Mr. Shreiber, who recognize the very real healing these interactions bring.”

Those interested in becoming involved with the Gerald B. Shreiber Pet Therapy Program at CHOP can send an email to pettherapy@email.chop.edu or visit the following link: http://http://www.chop.edu/service/child-life-education-and-creative-arts-therapy/programs/pet-therapy-program.html.

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About The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children’s Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program receives the highest amount of National Institutes of Health funding among all U.S. children’s hospitals. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.

About J&J Snack Foods

J&J Snack Foods Corp. is a leader and innovator in the snack food industry, providing nutritional and affordable branded niche snack foods and beverages to foodservice and retail supermarket outlets. Manufactured and distributed nationwide, our principal products include SUPERPRETZEL, PRETZEL FILLERS and other soft pretzels, ICEE and SLUSH PUPPIE frozen beverages, LUIGI’S, MINUTE MAID* frozen juice bars and ices, WHOLE FRUIT sorbet, FRUIT-A-FREEZE frozen fruit bars, MARY B’S biscuits and dumplings, DADDY RAY’S fig and fruit bars, TIO PEPE’S and CALIFORNIA CHURROS churros, THE FUNNEL CAKE FACTORY funnel cakes, and several cookie brands within COUNTRY HOME BAKERS. For more information, please visit us at http://www.jjsnack.com.

*MINUTE MAID is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company.

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