Dogs large and small took over Empie Park Sunday afternoon for the eighth annual paws4people 5K and 1-mile fun walk. Proceeds from the event benefit paws4people, a non-profit organization that trains and provides assistance dogs for children, veterans and people living with disabilities at no cost to them. More than 300 people and their dogs registered for this year’s race.

Fueled by her love for service animals, the paws4people organization was founded by Kyria Henry in 1999 when she was just 12 years old.

“When I was 12, I took my dog to a local nursing home and I saw how he made the people there so happy,” said Henry on the paws4people website. “I could appreciate that he was lighting up their lives in a way that was different than what any person could do.” Since then, the organization has grown to provide over 500 service dogs to people in 24 states.

In 2011, paws4people partnered with UNC Wilmington to create a class where students can learn about assistance dogs and help train them for their future job as an assistance pet. This program is the first of its kind in the country, and provides students an opportunity to spend two semesters learning about service dogs before receiving one of their own to help train.

“I started with this organization because I love dogs and I missed my dog, but it’s become so much more than that,” said Abby Sisson, an intern with paws4people and a junior at UNCW. “You see the impact it has on the clients and you learn so much more about the people and dogs than you ever expected to, and it really touches you.”

Several students from this semester’s class helped out with the 5K, along with numerous volunteers from paws4people. One volunteer explained her love for the organization as well as why she first got involved.

“I began volunteering with paws4people because they help change lives every day and I wanted to be a part of that as much as I could,” said paws4people volunteer and sophomore at UNCW, Mati Pettit. “It is truly amazing to see the transformation of a client before getting a service dog to after having him/her. Dogs make a world of difference to their clients.”

Along with a 5K run and 1-mile walk, the event also featured a puppy kissing booth and a raffle with baskets from various sponsors, such as Trader Joe’s and Fleet Feet Sports. Prizes were awarded to the overall male runner, overall female runner, overall in each age group and overall in each age group running with a pet.

Anyone who is interested in getting involved with the organization can check out their website, paws4people.org or contact them at [email protected].