Brookfield Animal Hospital Builds Bikes for Children in Need

BROOKFIELD, November 4, 2014 - On Tuesday, November 4, veterinarians and staff from Brookfield Animal Hospital got together to assemble some new bikes for needy Danbury children, but with a twist. Dr. Silke Bogart, DVM, who, along with her husband, Dr. Michael Dattner, DVM, owns the Federal Road veterinary practice, wanted to accomplish two goals with the event. “I thought this would be a great way to give back to our community, and at the same time, do some creative team building with our staff.” Huckleberry Hill Elementary School’s 4th grade classes participate in an annual “Adopt-a-Family” event around the holidays to brighten the lives of needy local families, and Drs. Bogart and Dattner thought pairing with this program would be an ideal way to make sure the bikes got into the hands of needy Danbury-area children.

When they arrived at the event, Brookfield Animal Hospital staffers were greeted with piles of bike parts and the tools they needed to build the bikes. Participants had to answer questions in a “Jeopardy” type format, and with each correct answer, teams were rewarded with either a part or a tool. The first team to fully assemble their bike correctly won a prize. The questions ran the gamut from pop culture to veterinary terminology and procedure to give staff at all levels a fair shot at answering. When the dust cleared, and the laughter died down after the friendly competition, three brand new gleaming bikes, complete with horns, sat waiting for their new riders.

The bikes were provided at cost by The Bicycle Center of Brookfield, which graciously took back the assembled bikes, checked them over to be sure they were put together safely and correctly, installed kick stands and made sure each would be accompanied by a new helmet so the recipients can bike safely into 2015 and beyond.

Brookfield Animal Hospital is grateful to HHES for providing a way to get the bikes to local children who will enjoy them. According to Dr. Dattner, “It felt wonderful to be able to design our team building exercise to not only educate our staff, but to know our efforts would put smiles on the faces of local children around the holidays.”

The Bicycle Center is located at 612 Federal Road in Brookfield and is a full service and sales shop. They can be reached at (203)-775-7083 or on the web at www.brookfieldbike.com.

Brookfield Animal Hospital is located at 329 Federal Road in Brookfield and is accredited by the American Association of Animal Hospitals. To learn more about this event and the services the hospital provides, visit them on the web at www.BrookfieldAnimalHospital.com or call (203) 775-3679.

The event was underwritten by Zoetis, formerly Pfizer Animal Health.

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