Houston volunteers and their pups spread holiday cheer at the airport

(23 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston – 23 December 2024
1. Various of volunteer pups Sharky and Patrick greeting travelers at George Bush International Airport
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Anne Heckman, Volunteer:
“We’re volunteers for the Houston airport system, and we come and bring the dogs to spread joy and happiness to all the passengers, especially during this time when it's so stressful flying.”
(Reporter: “How are people receiving this?”)
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Melinda Blankenship, Volunteer:
“They love the dogs. There are a couple of people that are afraid of dogs, and we avoid them. But for the most part, they're pretty stressed out and they really love seeing their dogs. A lot of people have left their dogs at home or have put them in boarding for the holidays and they're missing them. So, it's great to see the dogs and to actually pet them.”
4. Dogs Patrick and Sharky greeting passengers in line
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Anne Heckman, Volunteer:
“It's a win, win, win. It's a win for us. A win for the dogs and win for the people that we're visiting. So, they all love it, and it brings a smile. And we know we made their day when they look at us and said, ‘You've just made our day.’”
6. Pups Sharky and Patrick making rounds
7. Close of Patrick (in red) and Skarky (in blue)
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Melinda Blankenship, Volunteer:
“We've been doing this for at least eight years, both of us. We both have two Golden Retrievers that we work with, that we both own and take to different places – hospitals, schools, nursing homes and the airport. So, not only is it important during the holiday season, when a lot of people – this is their first time to travel, or they don't travel very often and it's extra stressful. We want to be there to make it a little bit easier. And our dogs love spreading good cheer, but we also do it the rest of the year in all the other places because the dogs bring a lot of happiness to people.”
9. Close pan from Patrick to Sharky
10. Various of passengers inside terminal
11. Close of flight information on digital screens
12. Various of passengers waiting to check-in for their flights
STORYLINE:
Passengers waiting to travel on Monday were greeted by Patrick and Sharky, two Golden Retriever pups, who take their jobs very seriously come the holidays.

The pups are part of a volunteer program at Houston’s George Bush International Airport, said Sharky’s owner Mary Anne Heckman.

Her friend Melinda Blankenship, also a dog-therapy volunteer, said she and Heckman are motivated to make stressful travel a “little bit easier" for folks, especially those traveling for the very first time.

“And our dogs love spreading good cheer, but we also do it the rest of the year in all the other places because the dogs bring a lot of happiness to people,” Blankenship told The Associated Press.

The U.S. is in for record holiday travel again ahead of the Christmas holiday.

The trade group Airlines for America said it expects U.S. airlines to carry 54 million passengers during a 19-day period that started Thursday and ends Monday, Jan. 6 – this number represents a 6% increase over last year.

AP video shot by: Lekan Oyekanmi
Production: Vanessa A. Alvarez

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