Right here, right now I have to go on the assumption that both Pepsi and their grant administration company, GlobalGiving.org, both know all about Lea Kaydus and her “organization”.  There have been a few of us doing our best to bring it to light.  Both companies have received letters and/or phone calls from founders/directors of nationally recognized service dog training organizations expressing their concerns and yet they continue to support Lea Kaydus.  Why is that?

Reality Bites.

Those companies, Pepsi and GlobalGiving.org, don’t want to admit that they have not properly done due diligence where this one grant is concerned.  The original grant, to provide training fees to place 10 autism service dogs, was a noble one but perhaps not reasonable especially as written.  Then there was the modified grant…Lea Kaydus claimed on her Facebook page that the grant administrators at GlobalGiving.org required her to modify her grant to cover the cost of tangible items such as facility improvements, and upgrades, kennel supplies, and other hardware, rather than the training fees she had initially requested.  GlobalGiving.org claims that we, all the people who voted to fund the original idea, have no right to know what is being funded or why the grant agreement was changed.  Not very transparent.

Reality Bites.

I will admit that when the idea of getting a service dog for my daughter came up that I did not know enough about service dogs or the proper training of a service dog.  I was lulled into a false sense of security by Lea Kaydus and the Siberian Snow Babies’ Animals for Autism program since Ms. Kaydus claims to also be a parent of an autistic child.  I wanted to believe the information posted on her web site, the information publicly posted in her “press releases” on PR Log, and failed to verify her claims.

Reality Bites.

In their attempt at the classic, yet very flawed CYA move, Pepsi and GlobalGiving.org have lent the credibility of their companies to Lea Kaydus and the “organization” that was known for a while as Animals for Autism.  For many people it is unfathomable that a company would just give $50,000 to someone without actually verifying their credentials.  I realize now that $50,000 is really not much money to a multi-national company that generates more than $300 million in retail sales daily.  Yes, that was $300,000,000 in retail sales DAILY.

Reality Bites.

Lea Kaydus cut all communication with the families she was “helping” with her endeavor so generously funded by Pepsi.  She refused to answer even basic questions.  She told me that our pup-to-be, Bella, was so highly trained at 4 months old that she could not possibly be of any use to anyone else if we left her program.  The Pepsi Pups at this moment should be almost one year-old and nearly full-grown.  GlobalGiving.org Chief Business Officer Donna Callejon has stated that when GlobalGiving.org conducted their “site visit” of the Animals for Autism facility they verified the presence of “about 20 puppies” at the facility.  Now Lea Kaydus has been selling puppies on PuppyFind.com at $650/pup.  The DOGS that were the Pepsi Pups back in March, 2011 must have been out for a walk at the time of their visit.  I hope that those DOGS are properly trained, able to resist the temptation to bolt that plagues even the most highly trained Husky, and does not choose to reprimand its charge for unpredictable behavior.  How would that go over with those folks who trusted Pepsi’s faith in GlobalGiving.org’s due diligence process.

Ms. Nooyi, would you be willing to bring a pair of these “highly-trained, autism service dogs” into the halls of your company to work alongside the members of the Pepsi Puppy Partnership(P3)?  After reading our stories, and comparing the sources of information, would you be comfortable knowing that these animals are guaranteed access into your corporate offices?  Is anyone in the upper management of Pepsi or GlobalGiving.org willing to foster a pair of these dogs for a month?  Are you willing to give such a public display of trust?  And yet our families are expected to do so even though we have been repeatedly lied to by Lea Kaydus and all those who had to have seen what has transpired.

Reality Bites. Willing to bet a “Pepsi Pup” from Siberian Snow Babies will too.

-Excerpt from the PepsiCo Code of Conduct

 

We are committed to the continuation of free
enterprise and the legal and regulatory
frameworks that support it. Therefore, we
recognize the importance of laws that prohibit
restraints of trade, predatory economic
activities and unfair, deceptive or unethical
business practices.
In all of our business dealings with
consumers, customers, suppliers and
competitors, we will:
• Avoid any unfair or deceptive practice and
always present our services and products in
an honest and forthright manner.
• Treat all customers and suppliers honestly,
fairly and objectively.
• Select suppliers based on merit, and make
clear to all suppliers that we expect them to
compete fairly and vigorously for our
business.
• Compete vigorously and with integrity.

Entire PepsiCo Code of Conduct may be found by following this LINK.

PepsiCo expects its employees, contractors, agents, customers, and suppliers to promptly report any conduct or situation that she/he believes conflicts with this Code or violates a local, state or federal law to their immediate supervisor, Human Resources, or through the PepsiCo Speak Up line at:

1-866-729-4888 (from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands)

If you feel this situation meets the reporting criteria I urge you to contact PepsiCo and make your voice heard.  If you would like to learn more about the families involved please start HERE.  Thank you for reading.

Merriam-Webster defines trust as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”

Last year my wife and I placed a great deal of trust in Lea Kaydus and her organization, Siberian Snow Babies’ Animals for Autism.  Lea Kaydus claimed to share a common bond with our family – a child on the Autism Spectrum.  She claimed her desire to train Autism Service Dogs was born when her own daughter wandered away from the family while in a port in Mexico.  She wanted to help other families avoid the same.  The story tugs at a very tender string in a parent’s heart – one with an amplifier for a Special Needs parent.  This story invoked a feeling of a shared fate; a common bond.  She must be here to help.  She knows what we are going through.  We try to look for as much good as we can – we hear and see enough of the negative side.  Yes, we know that you feel sorry for us at times; or even worse, believe that we just don’t know how to parent; after all, if it were your child they would not act like that.  We know; and we believed that Lea Kaydus knew as well.

It was that belief in a shared fate, and a perception of a common underlying value system that made us want to believe in Lea Kaydus and her Animals for Autism program.  We knew that she was not one of the big service dog providers.  She was listed in the Autism Society of America’s service provider database and various other Autism Resource databases.  She claimed to be a non-profit and have strong network of supporters and volunteers that allowed her to keep costs to a minimum.  And she was willing to reach out and lend a hand to help out less fortunate families.  Her organization was donating an Autism Service Dog to a deserving family in honor of World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month.  Many families applied. One was chosen.  It was not us. We did however enter the Animals for Autism program – matched with a beautiful Isabella White Siberian Husky pup we named Bella.  Bella was one of 11 pups in the Spring ’11 Autism Service Animal Training Class.  This “class” had been identified in March, 2011.  That would mean that Lea Kaydus had already identified and secured both funding and resources for each of these pups.  This is how she kept the costs down for the families involved.

Then came the news of the Pepsi Refresh Grant application.

The Animals for Autism Facebook page was all abuzz with the news.  Animals for Autism had applied for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant.  Many families were recruited to provide votes via Pepsi Power Vote codes.  Some families were voting as many as 50 Power Vote codes daily (sent by Lea Kaydus) – we all had TRUST in the organization and its founder.  We believed we all held a common goal – to make our children’s lives better.

All through the month of May the reminders to vote were there, the pleas to get Power Votes and recruit additional voters.  We were encouraged, entreated to get as much support as possible for this campaign.  Families rallied and support for the program grew remarkably.  And when the end of the voting period came, what began as a dream was now a reality.

During the voting period there was essentially no information coming from Lea Kaydus or anyone else associated with Animals for Autism concerning the status of training for the pups already in training for families.  Yes, there were families with pups already in training. Families making payments as scheduled; hoping that the Pepsi grant might ease a bit of the tension on an already stretched budget.

And with that the honeymoon period ended.  Lea Kaydus had won her $50,000 grant from Pepsi and the families who helped get her to this point were tossed aside.  It might have had something to do with the fact that Lea Kaydus was not ready or able to answer the questions posed by the families.  Of course, it could also be that there was never any intention to carry this program through to completion.  She claimed to have many volunteers as well as a regular staff.  Where are they?

The scenario that is playing out over and over goes something like this.  The lucky recipient family arrives in the Springfield, IL area to complete their last week of training after 12 – 18 months of waiting.  The service dog does not “respond well with the family” and it is determined that this match should not happen.  The family leaves, empty-handed with the promise of a different dog to be delivered upon completion of training.  Repeat for each family that is expecting a service dog from this organization.

Lea Kaydus (Animals for Autism) – you have lied about so many things and yet you want families to TRUST you with the well-being and safety of our children.  You have violated that trust that parents of Special Needs place in each other for what appears to be outright GREED.  You of all people should know how much all those little details meant – especially to an AUTISTIC child.  Our daughter was to the point she had all but memorized the markings of “her” Bella.  And it was nothing more than a SHAM.  May you reap what you have sown.  May I remind you that the “Bait and Switch” tactic is ILLEGAL in every sense of the word.  Please see the GUIDELINES posted here.  I sure hope you aren’t doing the same with the pups you are placing on PuppyFind.com or any other place online.

GlobalGiving.org – you have publicly said what an honor it is to work with Lea Kaydus.  You have been to her new “facility” during your recent “site visit” and yet not a single picture of a highly-trained service dog in training has come.  You “encouraged” the grantee to be in more regular communication with the families going forward and yet she has not.  How about someone just own up to the mess that this has become and admit that a mistake was made.  Her organization DOES NOT legally exist.  She IS NOT capable of the task at hand.  If she had considered attempting to make it right by hiring someone capable of bringing the task to fruition it was handicapped by your insistance that the grant pay for equipment and other tangible goods rather than trainer’s salaries.  You gave her $50,000 and she has improved her kennel and her backyard breeding program has been invigorated.  Yet, she CAN NOT produce the end product that was the spirit of the grant.  The idea was good – the execution SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

Pepsi – Your name will be forever associated with this grantee, her BROKEN process, and ILL-TRAINED service animals.  You TRUSTED GlobalGiving to leverage its grantmaking experience and proprietary workflow systems to validate each Pepsi Refresh grantee, work with each winner on milestones and budgets, and to disburse and monitor the use of funds under the grant.  They FAILED you on this project and in refusing to ACKNOWLEDGE their mistake they not only make themselves look bad, they are DRAGGING your NAME and REPUTATION through the mud.  Wait until the headline reads that service animals trained by PEPSI mauled, maimed or killed the young, disabled children they were to help.

Enough is enough.  Instead of saying

We are listening to the concerns raised and remain open to one-on-one discussion with any of the families who are still involved in the project. – GobalGiving.org response to question posed on Facebook Wall

Do what is right.  Uphold your commitment to Pepsi’s Guiding Principles.

1.  Care for our customers, our consumers and the world we live in. 
We are driven by the intense, competitive spirit of the marketplace, but we direct this spirit toward solutions that benefit both our company and our constituents. Our success depends on a thorough understanding of our customers, consumers and communities. To foster this spirit of generosity, we go the extra mile to show we care.

 

Help make our voice heard: sign the petition at Change.org asking Pepsi to Stop funding this DANGEROUS service dog placement/Puppy Mill

I sometimes wonder if I should be surprised that this has happened – after all there was a significant amount of public outcry directed at their organization.  Their founder, Lea Kaydus, has been dodging questions from the families she is supposed to be helping, the Better Business Bureau, and even the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.  Initially it was just her program’s web site (http://siberiansnowbabies.com/animals_for_autism) and then the Facebook page was taken down after the segment on KING5 Seattle’s Jesse Jones talking about the concerns we had with the program.  It remained down for a few days and was restored minus a comment here and there.  She insisted that all was well and the whole fiasco was nothing more than a simple misunderstanding.  She was “encouraged” by the grant administrators at Global Giving to have more open communication with the families that were in her program.  There has been no real communication between the families and Ms. Kaydus.  In fact it feels like we are being shoved aside since we have had the audacity to question her credentials and credibility.  She has also “relocated” her facility and left no forwarding address.  What are the families to do?

She and her husband currently continue to list puppies for sale at PuppyFind.com under the name Snowbabies and have been so kind to provide a phone number for contact.

There are also several locations in which she provides email addresses for contact as well and rather than ask you to search for them I will consolidate them here for you.
siberiansnowbabies@yahoo.com
illinoisanimalsforautism@yahoo.com
autismserviceanimals@yahoo.com

If her treatment of the families involved has upset you and you would like to voice your concern about what has happened there are people that you may contact.  Apparently, the concerns of the families are not enough to get those with any clout to take notice.  It will take the combined effort of many people.  Let them know.  The following are part of the GlobalGiving.org Grant Team that administer Ms. Kaydus’ grant.
dcallejon@globalgiving.org
kellis@globalgiving.org

Apparently there has been a bit of rearranging at GlobalGiving.org and those that now administer the Pepsi Refresh Project grants are:
Cooper Breeden: cbreeden@globalgiving.org 
Linda Shaffer Oatley: lshaffer@globalgiving.org

Instead of playing musical grant administrators it might just be easier to direct questions and concerns to the founders of GlobalGiving.org themselves.
Mari Kuraishi: mkuraishi@globalgiving.org 
Dennis Whittle: dwhittle@globalgiving.org