Fido Group initiative partners skateboarders with animal rescue
We are very excited to announce the re-naming of our pet adoption facility located at 11116 Fairfax Station Road, Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039.
Manny Law, the new namesake of the facility, was a skateboarder from Falls Church who unexpectedly passed away at the age of 24 on January 5, 2015, as a result of congenital heart failure.
At the time of his passing, Manny was a student at Northern Virginia Community College where he was completing a degree in architectural landscaping. As an avid environmentalist, Manny had planned to apply his knowledge to the protection of the environment and the maintenance of habitats for wildlife. Manny’s passion for skateboarding, coupled with his personal warmth, his genuine care and concern for others, and his natural charm and charisma, allowed him to build strong and lasting friendships throughout the DC metro area and beyond. Manny was survived by many of his family, friends, and two dogs, Gremlin and Yesca.
The re-naming of the adoption center was commissioned by Fido Group, a skateboarder-owned dog walking company in Upper NW DC whose owner, Chris Bota, was friends with Manny. Aside from providing in-home pet care services to 120 Upper NW DC families and their dogs, Fido Group holds valuable corporate partnerships with animal welfare organizations like Homeward Trails to directly impact the state of animal welfare at the ground level and pay it forward to the rescued cats and dogs Fido Group serves. With the re-naming of the facility, Chris has become more active in the organization and has been tasked with the role of Director of Business Development at the Manny Law Adoption Center.
The broader scope of the Manny Law Adoption Center initiative is to provide skateboarders with:
- Avenues to make an impact on animals in their community
- Opportunities to garner hands-on, career-building experience with animals
- A therapeutic outlet to combat mental health issues
Chris leveraged his business to generate resources and awareness about the new Manny Law Adoption Center through something Manny loved: a skateboard.
Fido Group produced a limited supply of Manny Law Adoption Center skateboards and partnered with Crushed Skate Shop in Washington DC to make the boards available for purchase both domestically and internationally.
One hundred percent of the net proceeds from each Manny Law Adoption Center skateboard sale directly benefit homeless cats and dogs at Homeward Trails in Manny’s honor.
To purchase a Manny Law Adoption Center skateboard and for more information about Fido Group, please visit https://fidogroup.store
For any questions, please contact Rebecca Goodhart at rebeccag@homewardtrails.org
If you’d like to email Chris, here’s his email: chrisb@homewardtrails.org
