For more details about any of the following events or activities, please see our About page.
Strolling
Our official stroll day schedule is now set. Our goal is to have at least one team on campus every Sunday 2-3:30pm, Monday 10:30am-12ish pm, Wednesday 2-3:30pm, and Thursday 10:30am-12ish pm (times are all approximate), when it’s not raining. Because wet dogs aren’t nearly as much fun. When we are on campus for a stroll, one team is always at “Blue’s Corner”, which is between Wilson Library and the Undergraduate Library. Our social media (IG, Twitter, and Reddit in r/HAPPEE_HugsandPups) is updated at each stroll, including with the live Glympse link so that students can find us.
Here are some pictures from our time on campus so far this semester.
Chalking Walks
Every now and then, we head to campus – especially near the end of student breaks – and leave little notes of love and encouragement on walkways. Some volunteers are serious artists! But even those of us who aren’t talented in that area still spread the chalked love, and it’s always fun to see some of our messages that show up on public Instagram accounts.
Painted Rocks
Another way we scatter love is by painting rocks with positive and inspirational messages to leave around campus to be found by students. Volunteers can paint rocks at home or in a group and then put them around campus by themselves or another volunteer can collect them and “hide” them around campus.
Other Activities
We partner with other community and student groups whenever possible, to better serve the UNC-Chapel Hill community. During the 2022-2023 school year, we hope to work up to monthly “stations activities” such as the Meditation Station that provide opportunities for students to do something fun or learn something that will support their mental health and meet others who share their interest in promoting mental health. We partner with student and community organizations as often as possible. So far in the Fall 2022 semester, we:
- Provided dogs (Apollo and Sushi) for two days in the Puppy Kissing Booth for UNC Paws for a Cause (formerly known as Carolina Helping Paws). They raised money for the wonderful organization Independent Animal Rescue.
- Brought a dog (Roxy) to a fundraiser done by a UNC fraternity for pediatric cancer research
- Took two Hugs & Pups teams (with Norbert and Macie) to stroll around Polk Place during UNC Healthy Heels‘ Wellness Day activity, “Art at Sunset”
- Celebrated our full year of spreading love and fur all over Carolina’s campus with a HAPPEE Birthday Party
Some examples during the 2021-2022 school year included:
- Participated in the Out of the Dark Campus Walk for suicide prevention and education, co-sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and two student organizations – UNC-CH Mental Health Ambassadors and Active Minds at Carolina
- Sent a Hugs & Pups team to each of the following upon student request: HoJo Dorm program, end-of-year celebration at Kenan-Flagler Business School, and finals activity at the Phi Mu sorority house
- Partnered with UNC-CH Mental Health Ambassadors to do a “Meditation Station” that taught students the 5-4-3-2-1 mindfulness strategy and helped them build their own “Mindfulness Starter Pack”
- Organized a Valentine’s Day Puppy Car Parade for a socially distanced way to remind students that we cared about them
