Uber, PSPCA bring puppies to businesses
A traveling squad brought four-legged joy to offices across Philadelphia.
When Kathy Gross was called into a conference room at Five Below's headquarters on Market Street in the heart of Center City on Thursday, she thought she was attending a business meeting.
But instead, a small birthday gift was waiting for her - a playdate with two 3-month-old Catahoula leopard/cocker spaniel puppies.
"I was truly surprised," said Gross, a vice president in merchandising at Five Below. "They called a meeting to discuss financials . . . and this is just a great surprise. The opposite of financials is a cute puppy."
Five Below was one of the stops Thursday on "Puppy Playdates," a partnership between the PSPCA and Uber, in which workers from both organizations bring puppies into business offices throughout Philadelphia. Users of the Uber ride-sharing app could request 15 minutes with the puppies for $30, with all the proceeds given to the PSPCA.
It's the second time for Puppy Playdates. Last August, the event raised more than $1,500 for the PSPCA, and 11 puppies were adopted.
On Thursday, 11 Uber cars transported 20 puppies around the Philadelphia area.
Mike Smull, a candy buyer at Five Below, was responsible for bringing two of those puppies, Ryan and Robbie, into headquarters Thursday afternoon.
"We've got a bunch of dog lovers," he said. "When you can donate a bit to charity, it's a fun and nice thing to do. . . . We like Uber and we like puppies."
Before stopping at Five Below, Ryan and Robbie met several workers at Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia, a nonprofit that seeks to assist low-income families in sending their kids to K-8 tuition-based schools.
By the end of their visit, the fund's executive director, Ina Lipman, donated $300 to the PSPCA. Her family currently owns a 15-year-old Welsh corgi cardigan named Rocky - who also goes by Helen Keller because he is deaf and blind.
"The SPCA does fantastic work here and nationally," she said. "While I'm not in a position to adopt, I want to do anything I can to help."
At both locations, Ryan and Robbie won the attention of dozens of employees. Workers at the Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia watched and played with the puppies on their conference room table. Before the pups entered Five Below, multiple people on the elevator in their Market Street offices embraced them and snapped photos of the canines with their phones.
PSPCA spokeswoman Gillian Kocher said that at the end of the last Puppy Playdates stop, PSPCA workers returned to their headquarters on Erie Avenue - and were greeted by a long line of people looking to adopt the puppies.
Around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Kocher said three of the 20 puppies had been adopted, while total fund-raising was around $4,000.
The event "reminds people that the PSPCA and organizations and shelters like this are out there," she said. "And to keep those in mind when you're thinking of getting a puppy."
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