When the drama group at St Monica School, Birkirkara, decided to present the musical Annie, a big question cropped up: who to cast as Sandy, the dog who becomes Annie’s companion?

The school approached Christine Mifsud, the mother of two students at the school, who is also vice-chairman of the Malta Guide Dog Foundation. Ms Mifsud has a guide dog called Winny and was more than willing to ‘offer’ Winny’s services.

The school approached dog trainer Robert Spiteri, but training Winny to play the part of Sandy for a live performance on stage would not be easy.

To raise funds for the foundation and create an awareness against animal cruelty, the school began selling ‘Give a dog a hug’ mugs featuring a photo of Winny.

The popularity of the campaign spread beyond the students and their families.

Towards the end of the scholastic year, the fabulous sum of €10,000, together with two cheques of €360 and €1,850 collected by port workers was donated to the foundation chairman Joseph Stafrace.

The sum is almost enough to train one guide dog – and transform the life of a visually impaired person.

Moreover, the students learned how entrepreneurship and a strong dose of solidarity can help members of the community.