Featured Philanthropic Business: Lulu LaRock

Every so often, Project Pawsitivity has the privilege of featuring a furnomenal company that aims to make a difference by supporting an animal-related cause. Today we are thrilled to feature our furnomenal pet sitter Maggie McFarland and her company, Lulu LaRock!

McFarland launched Lulu LaRock in 2011 as a creative outlet for her interests in illustration, design, and working with her hands. She started off making notecards and custom stamps cut from her designs, then began decorating coasters. Over the years, McFarland expanded Lulu LaRock’s product line to include kitchen towels, jewelry, clothing, accessories, and more.

“I had painted a mermaid, just a small watercolor and she became the starting point for my coastal design ideas. Lulu is a favorite nickname for some of my zany friends, and LaRock; oftentimes mermaids are perched atop some craggy rocks looking out to sea for their homecoming sailors.” –Maggie McFarland on the Lulu LaRock name

McFarland has a love for animals (hence her pawesome pet sitting side hustle) and strongly believes in the positive changes they can bring to people’s lives. As a result, she decided to use her business to give back and launched Lulu LaRock’s Heart for Hands and Paws fundraiser to place service and emotional support animals with people who would benefit from having their assistance. It’s the first time she’s used her business to spearhead a fundraiser.

The Heart for Hands and Paws fundraiser features shirts and hats (currently for sale) as well as a bracelet (available in October). All profits from the items purchased from the Heart for Hands and Paws collection will be donated to training facilities to subsidize the cost of providing a service or emotional support animal to a person in need. Customers can choose which facility they’d like their donation profits to go to by emailing McFarland directly with their request.

“While there are countless people that could benefit from having a service dog, it takes thousands of dollars to train them which is something that not many people can afford. This fundraiser aims to support people from all walks of life and ideally the programs that receive our donations will coordinate with rescues and shelters.” –Maggie McFarland

McFarland hopes to keep the fundraiser going long term and aims to add new products to the collection as support for her efforts grow. As the fundraiser continues, she will build out the fundraiser page on her website to enable people to choose organizations to donate to without the need for email. She also would like to provide the option for customers to nominate someone they know who would benefit from having a service animal.

If you are interested in purchasing an item from the Heart for Hands and Paws collection, you can find the collection here. McFarland is also looking for contacts who would like to collaborate and expand the fundraiser to give back on a greater level so if you are interested in joining forces, you can get in touch with her here.