Sunshine Friends rebrands as PAWS of CNY

SYRACUSE — Sunshine Friends, Inc., which refers to itself Central New York’s largest nonprofit provider of pet-therapy services, recently announced it is rebranding as PAWS of CNY, Inc.

The organization’s board of directors chose the name PAWS, an acronym that stands for “Pet Assisted Wellness Services,” believing “it more accurately describes the comprehensive wellness services” it now provides, according to its news release.

The name-change process also resulted in a new logo and website, PAWS said. The logo includes the dog caricature in the accompanying photo.

The nonprofit has “loved” the identity of Sunshine Friends over the past 14 years, but the organization has “grown and expanded” beyond providing pet-therapy programs, Danielle Basciano, president of PAWS of CNY, Inc., said in the news release.

“We feel that ‘PAWS’ more accurately describes all of the services that our organization provides to the community and more accurately identifies us as a pet centric organization,” Basciano said.

PAWS of CNY offers pet-assisted therapies and activities, youth-reading programs, and education programs, the organization said. The nonprofit also recently expanded its pet-assisted wellness services to serve students at area colleges like Syracuse University and SUNY Oswego.

The organization includes more than 200 volunteers across Onondaga, Oswego, Cortland, Madison and Cayuga counties who bring their pets to visit more than 55 facilities, Basciano said.

Founded in 1998 and incorporated in 1999, PAWS has facility partners that include hospitals, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, elementary schools, and colleges.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com