“Heaven’s the place where all of the dogs you’ve ever loved come to greet you.”
Meet Nicky Willmot and her K9 Initiative!
(I know we have HOWLED about Nicky a few times, but she continues to have such an enormous impact on the Ned’s Wish community, we needed to HOWL some more!)
Here is a reminder of why Nicky does what she does!
“I do custom pet portraits, and two years ago, I painted two police dogs for twin K (police officers in my area) as a surprise gift. When I saw how it affected them, I started branching out across Ontario, and then eventually across Canada. I am not a wealthy person, I am a single mom of three (grown kids) and I work full time, however, this was a way I could give back. I paint portraits of police dogs that have passed away whether it is on active duty or in retirement as a gift to the K9 Handler.”
Nicky first surprised “Fallen Hero” Tyson’s family with a beautiful portrait of him. Thanks to Top Dawg Stacey Talbot working behind the scenes to organize it, Nicky was able to give the gift in person to his family
Since Nicky started this powerful initiative, she has blessed many of our “Fallen Heroes” families with her gift of love. Nicky’s talent has not only captured the essence of our “Fallen Heroes”, she has captured the hearts of their families and Ned’s Wish. We can not begin to express the impact that her kindness has had on our community, so we thought it should come directly from our Hoomans:
“I received a gift today from a supporter of Ned’s Wish. It was a painting of my first dog PSD Chrisa, who passed this year. The gift brought tears of joy, as now I can say she is back home again.” – Handler Jamie Dobson
Jamie was also Fallen Hero Jago’s handler, before he was re partnered with Scott McLeod and killed in the line of duty. Nicky again gifted Jamie with a portrait of Jago!
“Now they are home together” – Handler Jamie Dobson
“Edge took his job very seriously, but when with those he trusted he was a goofball and the best cuddler. You so perfectly captured his goofy smile! We can’t thank you enough for using your talents to pay tribute to fallen heroes and especially our handsome boy Edge. 💙” – Karen Willams
This is also not the end of the story, prior to Edge retiring, and living with Karen Williams and Jim Hynes, he was partnered with handler Sgt. Morgan and his family. When Karen received the portrait of Edge, she asked if Nicky would paint another one for Sgt. Morgan. Karen and Jim offered a donation to a charity of Nicky’s choice for the portraits. Well GUESS WHAT?! We are all TAIL WAGS because Nicky agreed and Karen and Jim generously donated $5000.00 to our “Cause for Heroes with Paws”
We can’t thank Nicky enough, we bet she had no idea how her thoughtfulness of others and selfless act of reaching out through her art, would connect this community and provide complete strangers so much comfort.
Nicky, we are so grateful that you are and forever will be a part of the Ned’s Wish family.