June 28, 2016
“Love heals, love does; especially when it’s got a wet nose, 4 paws and a wagging tail.” ~Mary Cortanni —Founder Operation Freedom Paws
This Independence Day we are giving back to an organization who helps veterans become more independent! Operation Freedom Paws is one of the Chocology Cares organizations and we are very proud to partner with them to match homeless dogs with veterans and others who suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, complex PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other physical, neurological, psychological and mobility needs.
Operation Freedom Paws is an organization that saves lives. From the shelter dog given a second chance, to the disabled client given an opportunity to regain their independence, to the client’s family who is able to re-connect with their loved ones. OFP is committed to helping veterans regain their independence and live full and happy lives.
From other organizations, the cost for a service dog can range from $10,000 - $60,000. At Operation Freedom Paws, there is no cost to the Veteran, OFP provides everything.
Operation Freedom Paws carefully matches clients with their specially chosen four- legged companions. The partners then begin a 48-week program which trains the clients to train their own dogs. At the end of the program, they’re certified together as service dog team. ”Four paws, two feet, one team.” —The slogan of Operation Freedom Paws
We were very excited to write them a check this week for $257. This money was raised through the sale of our Fat Ass Fudge at both the Farmer’s Markets and the website.
“The most amazing thing,” says Mary, “is to see the person and the animal transform into this amazing working team where they just help each other navigate life and they create a new normal. My life is blessed. I may not be worth a lot of money, but I am very rich.”
Every time you order Fat Ass Fudge, choose your charity and Chocology will donate a portion of the proceeds to the charity of your choice.
Thank a veteran this Independence Day by donating directly to Operation Freedom Paws. You’ll not only save a shelter dog, help a veteran to regain autonomy and a new friend.
March 30, 2016
Whew! What a weekend it was for Chocology. From coast to coast, everyone on the Chocology team had lots of chocolaty hands in some awesome Easter goodness.
First off, Madeline, our Chief Creative Officer (and Linda’s daughter), dressed as the Easter bunny, made an appearance at Atria, the senior living community in Port Jefferson, New York. With a wide smile and big floppy ears, our Easter Bunny delivered hugs and Chocology goodies to all of our senior friends and their families. The smiles were contagious! Young and old alike made memories they will cherish for years. We were so excited to be a part of the Easter celebrations at Atria this year!
Then, across the country on the West Coast, our team in California was honored to participate with our charity partner, Operation Freedom Paws, on their community annual Easter Egg Hunt. The entire community showed up, including their veterans, their families and of course their service dogs.
Operation Freedom Paws supplied plastic eggs filled with goodies and the kids set off on their Easter egg hunt extravaganza. All veterans were gifted a copy of Mannheim Steamroller’s cd entitled, “Spirit of America.” And of course, all of the service dogs were rewarded with doggie treats contributed by yours truly. The kids, veterans and dogs supplied the smiles, fun and laughter – the most important ingredient for a successful event!
A big THANK YOU to everyone who made these events possible this weekend. We are honored to work with such great people!
A special thanks goes out to our team of volunteers in San Francisco who radiate the Chocology spirit and personality and who made each and every attendee feel special.
We also want to extend our gratitude to Manheim Steamroller for donating the cd’s to all of the service men and women who have made great sacrifices to make this country great!
We appreciate all of the photos that were sent in as well. If you have photos from any of the past weekend Chocology events, please send them over to Linda@chocologyunlimited.com. We can ALWAYS use more photos.
We hope you all had a happy and healthy Easter as well!
~The Chocology Team
March 24, 2016
Do you remember the Chocology Gives Back Road Trip that we took almost a year ago? We sure do! From April 17 to May 15, 2015, Madeline and I drove coast to coast with a focus on giving back to the community. We had so much fun and met so many wonderful people along the way.
When Madeline and I got the opportunity during our trip to tour the Mannheim Steamroller studios and meet Chip Davis, the genius behind this musical wonder, we jumped on it! Seeing Mannheim Steamroller in concert has been a Christmas tradition with the Johnson family for many years and meeting Chip was a dream come true for us. Their inspiring music along with their “give back” mentality attracted us right away, so we weren’t going to pass on this opportunity! Not to mention, we had to ask about the origins of their song “Chocolate Fudge” played on their album entitled, Fresh Aire.
The studio was magnificent! It felt like home as soon as we walked in. The atmosphere was friendly and respectful and it felt as though everyone we met was genuinely glad to see us. It didn’t take us long to realize that the team behind the scenes works in just as much harmony as the band. All of the staff, from the receptionist to Chip Davis himself, was a delight and we enjoyed our visit very much!
In our interview with Chip, we learned that he is passionate about helping military service people and veterans. He believes that much like life, music is a gift, and he has truly given the gift of music to our service men, women and veterans. In the “A Million Reasons to Be Thankful” campaign, Mannheim Steamroller gave away 1 million Christmas CD’s to U.S. Troops domestically and in foreign countries! Now that is what we call giving back!
And. . . we found out that the song “Chocolate Fudge” follows “Prelude” on the Fresh Aire album. “Prelude” starts out gentle and classical. After the first few notes of “Chocolate Fudge” however, things start to pick up and the music is transformed into the musical wonder that is Mannheim Steamroller. We love that Chip chose the name “Chocolate Fudge” to signal the beginning of the transition from classical to modern.
Since Mannheim Steamroller and Chocology both agree that giving back to our communities is where it’s at, we were so excited to get an opportunity to collaborate with them for the Easter egg hunt hosted by Operation Freedom Paws this weekend. Operation Freedom Paws, if you remember, is one of Chocology’s #Chocologycares organizations. Operation Freedom Paws empowers veterans and others with disabilities to live a quality life by teaching them to train their own dogs, and certifying them as service dog teams.
Chocology will be donating a huge Easter basket for the event. We will also be represented there with Fat Ass fudge samples for everyone and doggie treats for our furry friends. Mannheim Steamroller is teaming up with us to donate 90 of their American Spirit CD’s to the veterans at Operation Freedom Paws. It’s so exciting to have the chance to work with Mannheim Steamroller for this event. We are truly grateful to have such wonderful partners on this chocolate journey!
We hope that you and yours have a wonderful Easter holiday this weekend ~ filled with fun, family, friends and chocolate, of course!
August 25, 2015
August 27th marks the first year anniversary of the launch of Chocology Unlimited! Won’t you reminisce with us? It’s been quite a year and our goal of educating, giving back and growing the business has been a wonderful success! We want to thank all of our readers, customers and charity organizations for being a part of the Chocology team. We know that without you, Chocology wouldn’t be where it is today.
So what is Chocology most proud of accomplishing this year?
At Chocology, we are interested in all aspects of chocolate. We are committed to and love the study of chocolate – extending that love and knowledge to you in a new and exciting way is our mission.
Educating through blogging and our Face Book page: We love bringing you articles that inspire and inform you about all things chocolate. Through blogging, we can reach so many people from around the world and share what we know and learn about chocolate. Together we now have over 1,500 Followers and Likers. Thank you!
Farmer’s Markets – Teaching people how to taste chocolate and informing them on the different types of chocolate has been a fun and tasty way to keep the public up to date on what they eat.
U.N. International Day of Peace – Chocology sent out the ingredients for making peace pops to children around the country. Kids were encouraged to make their pops and share International Day of Peace with others in their community. Since then we were invited to collaborate with "Pathways to Peace" this year.
Our goal of giving back to the community has been such a gift to us. We think we’ve hit the mark in this area and here’s how:
We had so much fun on our Chocology Give’s Back Road trip this past spring, we got to do workshops with lots of kids and spend time with each of the non-profit organizations we help support!
Chocology Cares Campaign: We know that when we give we will always have everything we need. Our Chocology Cares campaign has been a huge success and we are so happy to be helping out some good causes. If you’d like to help these charities, simply order our Fat Ass Fudge. We love helping great organizations that are making a difference in the world.
Atria Senior Living – We enjoy our time with seniors. Our workshop entitled, “Chocolate Lover’s Fest,” is always well attended and we remain in awe of how willing the people are to learn in their latter years.
Making fine quality chocolate available to everyone and allowing chocolate lovers the opportunity to experience the delights generally reserved for the connoisseurs. Everyone gets excited about chocolate and with that, it becomes easy to educate and give back.
Launched the website in September 2014 – Chocology's approach started and remains to treat each customer with a high level of personal service while maintaining quality and variety.
Acquired Fat Ass Fudge – In November, Chocology completed the deal to acquire our much-loved Fat Ass Fudge. Since then, we have developed new flavors and done hundreds of taste tests for feedback. We’ve also loved utilizing this product to promote our charity organizations.
Participated in lots of events – Chocology has reached its goal of getting out to as many people as possible through many festivals, local events, charity events and our farmer’s markets.
Launched our Weddings by Chocology – Lots of brides and grooms have chosen our chocolates as wedding favors for their special day. We love being a part of a partnership that is beginning to blossom.
Corporate Clients --Chocology handles large orders on a regular basis to corporate clients. This has ranged from the delivery of a single plates of chocolate or fudge to corporate clients and employees to thousands of fudge samples for convention give-aways.
We are so proud of what Chocology has been able to accomplish in this first year and we thank you for making it a success! We look forward to many more years of fun, education, giving back and chocolate. We hope you’ll follow us into our second year. Thank you.