Giving is truly better than receiving. Just ask Harrison Ford Bulldog, one of our favorite Instagram-famous dogs. To celebrate his upcoming birthday, the perpetually grumpy pooch with a heart of gold partnered with Nixplay to help Patrick, a second-grade teacher at the poorest public school in Cincinnati, Ohio. Patrick would use his own salary to purchase school supplies for his pupils, sometimes even sending his students home with food as many of them experience food insecurity.
Patrick’s generosity made him a deserving hero in Harrison Ford Bulldog’s eyes, and there was truly no better recipient for a birthday fundraiser. We got to chat with Harrison Ford’s mom, Sarah, about their fundraising activities and their life with a famous pooch. Read on!
First of all, we love Harrison Ford Bulldog and would like to send our greetings. For those who haven’t had the chance to meet him, please tell our Nixplay family a little bit about Harrison Ford.
Harrison Ford Bulldog is an English Bulldog living in Cincinnati, Ohio. We started an Instagram account for him in late 2015, and it has amassed almost 50,000 followers who tune in for his grumpy face, aggravated thoughts, and sweet disposition.
He’s pretty funny – it’s certainly not our photography skills that bring in the followers! We have a lot of fun sharing Harrison Ford’s funniest moments with our 50,000 internet friends.
Harrison Ford’s birthday is coming up soon! How do you usually celebrate it?
Harrison Ford turns 8 in 2 months. We usually celebrate that month with a big fundraiser of some sort and a bunch of prize giveaways to our followers. In the past, we have raised money for a Cincinnati dog rescue named Queen City Bulldog Rescue, our daughter’s school’s scholarship fund, and smaller events throughout the year for other bulldog rescues across the USA.
We did not expect to have this large platform on Instagram, and we try to use it for good – raising money and raising awareness. Fortunately, the bulldog community is tight-knit and is always game for a good cause.
Can you tell us a little bit about this year’s fundraising event?
This year, we celebrated Harrison Ford’s birthday a bit early to coincide with the start of the school year in Ohio. Patrick, a friend of ours, is a 2nd-grade teacher at the poorest public school in Cincinnati, and had told me stories in the past about how sometimes they don’t even have hand soap in their bathrooms and that he sends food home with his students because so many of them experience food insecurity. This is in addition to the huge amounts of school supplies he regularly purchases for his class of kids. I made a mental note at that time that our next fundraiser would be for his classroom.
This summer, we realized that not only would Patrick need the usual school supplies and food items, but he’d also need to purchase classroom safety items for teaching during a pandemic. Unfortunately, a majority of public schools in the USA are severely underfunded, and the responsibility of purchasing most things for the classrooms ends up falling on teachers. Our educators are not paid anywhere near what they deserve, so this responsibility puts a financial strain on so many.
I reached out to our favorite sponsors and companies ( Nixplay was my very first email!), and asked if they would consider donating a raffle prize. We collected 10 amazing high-value prizes from a variety of sources – corporate sponsors such as Nixplay, local Cincinnati companies like Rookwood Pottery, Red Dog Pet Resort & Spa and The Hand of Allhands, along with prizes donated by some of our own amazing followers.
Each $10 increment donation earned 1 entry into our raffle, with winners drawn by random. We raised $1500 in less than one week, with some people donating more than once. The average person in America recognizes that teachers are heroes. Teachers educate our children, they love our children, they counsel our children, they protect our children. They deserve to be millionaires. Raising $1500 so a second-grade public school teacher can feed his students felt like the right thing to do, and clearly resonated with our amazing followers.
It’s so heartwarming to hear stories of hope, resilience, and togetherness at a time like this. What’s your message to our Nixplay family?
Our family has been long-time users of Nixplay frames to keep in touch. Both sets of grandparents own Nixplay frames, and we’ve used them for years to send pictures and keep them up to date on our everyday happenings. Quite a few of our friends own a Nixplay frame, too!
With the pandemic occurring, our Nixplay frames took on a role of greater importance: They connected us when we couldn’t physically be together. We can immediately share our best photos and videos with our parents, and nothing is better than walking by one of our Nixplay frames and seeing a special memory from when my daughter was just an infant or young toddler. Rather than keeping photos locked up in a book to enjoy “someday,” we enjoy our memories flashing by every day on our Nixplay frame. It means so much to our family.
