723 Whiskey Bravo owners, Skip and Victoria Moore, announced an unusual fundraiser that will benefit the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center’s new Pierce Family Children’s Center slated to open in April in Defuniak Springs.

The restaurant will placed stuffed animal ‘Riley, the Therapy Dogs’ on each table, which guests can purchase for $20 each.

Proceeds will directly benefit the new Walton County center.

One might ask, who is Riley? The real Riley, a 10-year-old Maltese, is a registered American Kennel Club Therapy Dog who is on the ‘staff’ of the Advocacy Center. He earned his American Kennel Club credentials by completing over 400 therapy visits with the kids at the center who are dealing with abusive situations.

Riley helps the kids learn self-confidence and the kids teach him tricks.

In group therapy sessions, he often instinctively sits in front of the child who feels the worst.

In fact, according to therapists, the kids will tell Riley things they won’t tell them. The kids will say, “I’ll tell Riley, you can listen if you want.”

“We so appreciate the generous support of the Moores and 723 Whiskey Bravo,” said the center’s CEO, Julie Hurst, who noted the couple also donated funds to sponsor the office manager’s room at the new center. “The stuffed animal look-alike Riley dogs are adorable and will generate additional funds to help our kids.”

The center’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect, protect children in Okaloosa and Walton Counties and restore the lives and futures of these impacted children.

The center’s child-friendly facility in Niceville houses a multidisciplinary team of child protection personnel, prosecutors, law enforcement, Department of Children and Families staff, therapists, and the center’s own staff and volunteers. Their Walton County Center will also offer the same services, which are provided at no cost.

For more info, visit Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center. If abuse is suspected, call the anonymous Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE.