Helping our community – one dog biscuit at a time

Team Wilson, real estate agents in the Long & Foster Greenville sales office, helped the Waggies by Maggie & Friends team package their famous dog biscuits and treats at a recent event. They counted, stacked, and carefully weighed the dog treats before bagging them into the well-recognized Waggies packaging.

Founded in November 2007, Waggies by Maggie & Friends is a nonprofit company headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.  The organization employs persons with intellectual disabilities and takes pride in celebrating their work.  They are a unique business that brings employees and volunteers together for the daily operation of producing dog treats. Being part of the Waggies team empowers their employees to be successful in their work and active members of the community. Waggies dog treats can be found at local stores and animal hospitals throughout the state of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

“Giving back to our community has always been a priority for us,” said Ashle Wilson Bailey, team leader for Team Wilson. “We know how difficult the pandemic has been for our local charities. We were excited to finally be able to get outside and help again.”

Both Team Wilson volunteers and Waggies employees were thrilled with the special guest appearance from Ann Elise Bouchard and her Rhodesian Ridgeback Lucius, who will be competing in the Westminster Dog Show in June.

Bouchard and her family adopted Lucius in 2016 as a puppy. “Trust me, we don’t do anything special to train Lucius for dog shows. He’s just a sweet, wonderful dog – even tempered and happy. He also has the look and the walk that I guess the judges like,” said Bouchard. 

Lucius has also earned the required 15 points with two major wins to be considered a National Champion, a qualification requirement for the Westminster Dog Show. There’s one more rank that Lucius has earned that may be the most important of all to Bouchard – the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen Certificate. Bouchard spent the first year of Lucius’ life using a variety of training methods so Lucius could earn the special certificate. Since then, Lucius has served as a therapy dog at hospitals and senior residential communities in the area.

“Community service is a vitally important component of Long & Foster’s corporate culture of giving,” said Jeff Detwiler, president and CEO of The Long & Foster Companies, the parent company of Long & Foster Real Estate. “Our team gains a tremendous sense of satisfaction by contributing their time and efforts to the communities in which we live and work.”

Team Wilson has scheduled a large purchase of treats from Waggies and will be donating them to the Delaware Humane Association.   “We’re looking forward to getting back to regular life again and helping tremendous organizations like Waggies. And we’ve loved getting to know Ann Elise and Lucius, who are doing such great things in this community,” said Wilson Bailey.

We wish the best of luck to Lucius and Bouchard at Westminster. Team Wilson, Long & Foster and Waggies will be rooting for you.

For more information about Long & Foster, visit www.LongandFoster.com.