Basil The Service Dog

Any donation of any size was appreciated, and within a day, over $500 had been raised.

“We had a rough start where we had a few donations here, a few there,” said Maloney (Beverly, St. John Fisher). “We kept promoting it, and then a bunch of donations starting coming in. We were at $500 and then $600 and then we had $1,000. It felt really good to be able to do this.”

Senior Devyn Petrowski (Beverly, St. John Fisher) is on the senior advisory board and was also a member of the volleyball team of which Gardner is the assistant coach.

“We expected to raise the money, but we were surprised that we were able to do it so fast,” Petrowski said. “We pushed it really hard. We wanted to show how much we appreciate what Mrs. Gardner does for us. It felt really good to support something that’s very important to her.”

With the donation, the Gardners will purchase the service dog for Maddie. The process of acquiring a service dog can take up to three years, but the process came together quickly for the family.

The Gardners have already met Basil, a 2-year-old German shepherd who will be Maddie’s service dog. The family will bring the dog home for good at the end of June. Meg said Basil immediately connected with the family, especially Maddie.

“Having the dog, it really helps with her sensory disorder, calming her down, protecting her, all that good stuff,” Gardner said. “Greg took the kids to see Basil the second time, and as the car pulled up, he came right up to the car. He was already her protector and just really took to her. This will really help her in so many ways.”

Awaiting Basil’s arrival at the Gardner household in June, the McAuley seniors can’t wait to see their volunteer work come together for Maddie, Basil and the family.

“I didn’t know much about the story, but I went on Kairos with Mrs. Gardner this year, and she talked about it,” Maloney said. “You never know what a person goes through, so it’s really cool to do all this. Our entire senior class stepped up. Everyone took a part.”

Gardner, a 1999 McAuley alumna, has been a teacher at McAuley since 2005, and she said she can’t thank the Mighty Macs enough for the effort of the Class of 2020.

“I’ve always thought McAuley was a magical place because of the students, teachers and the community,” Gardner said. “It was just so incredibly thoughtful and just so much good, especially by our youth who came together to work for our daughter.”