Franklin Native’s Good Dogg Does Good

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Last Saturday, Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced a partnership with Good Dogg Beverage Company, which produces the Good Dogg Premium Hard Seltzer product line. This partnership will focus on Good Dogg’s support in granting puppy wishes and sponsoring several signature Make-A-Wish events during the 40th anniversary celebration year for Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Good Dogg founder and CEO is Tony Venturoso, originally of Franklin, and a 1972 FHS graduate, currently residing in Melbourne, Florida. He explained that the company had a long gestation, but now often focuses on giving back.

To kick off the partnership, Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island and Good Dogg hosted a puppy party at JB’s Indoor Dog Park in Kingston, Massachusetts. Wish Community members—children who have had wishes granted and their families—were invited to the party to engage with each other and staff from both organizations.

Several families were in attendance whose children have had puppy wishes granted in the past few years, including wish recipient Aisha, her mom, Rodna, and her French Bulldog, Sheldon. “Aisha had a very difficult time while she was in treatment [for acute lymphoblastic leukemia]. She was spending a lot of time in the hospital, having trouble in school. Then she found a friend in Sheldon, and it put a smile on her face,” said Rodna. “Sheldon is her best friend; she does everything with him.”

According to Venturoso, Good Dogg is a purpose-driven company, whose Leverage the Beverage™ Program reflects its mission to research and partner with quality organizations that make a difference in the lives of children and in their best friends, dogs. “This right here, bringing people together and organizations partnering to do good work, that’s what it’s all about,” said Venturoso.

The company is focused on expanding products, distribution, and philanthropic efforts in new markets, including New Hampshire, Missouri, Florida, and the Southeastern United States. Through the partnership, Good Dogg will be the Afterglow after-party sponsor of the Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island 40th Anniversary Gala on April 1 at SoWa Power Station in Boston, the presenting sponsor of the Wine & Wishes tasting event on April 28 at Artists for Humanity EpiCenter in Boston, and will headline the post-race festival at the Providence Marathon and Half Marathon on May 7, for which Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island is the official charity partner.

As part of the partnership, Good Dogg will help fulfill wishes for puppies, through financial support and direct engagement with wish families and Good Dogg employees. “We appreciate all of our corporate supporters, and it’s especially meaningful to work with partners like Good Dogg whose vision and values align so well with ours,” said Sean Holleran, Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island CEO. “We are thrilled about this partnership and looking forward to years of creating special moments together for children, families, and their dogs.”

Venturoso brought many life lessons to his company and his charitable work. He explains that he had been interested in starting a beverage company and, indeed, had become something of a flavor formulation expert along with some like-minded friends. Always health-minded, he was devastated to receive a leukemia diagnosis in 2016.

He went through 22 weeks of treatment and, along the way, made the acquaintance of a service dog that was helping a woman who also receiving treatment. The experience, he said, made him aware of how vital service dogs are to people with all kinds of needs, how helpful, and how much it takes to train them. He knew he wanted to something to help, someday.

After getting a clean bill of health, and back to work on launching his seltzer business, a chance conversation with his wife, in which they were reminiscing about Teddy, the puppy that became the namesake for Franklin’s Teddy Gallagher’s pub, led to a name. “He was a good dog,” she concluded.

And that phrase became the birth of Good Dogg beverages, Venturoso explained.

The rest is history. And, while Good Dogg is produced at multiple locations nationally, and he is based in Florida, Venturoso still gets to Franklin fairly frequently, he said.

Maybe you’ll spot him at Teddy Gallagher’s which stock’s his company’s products! For that matter, wherever you go, Good Dogg seems to be on display these days...

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