Animal Assisted Happiness

Animal Assisted Happiness Enriching the lives of youth with needs through the smiles only animals can bring.

Animal Assisted Happiness recognizes that children with need often struggle on a daily basis. We provide barnyard animal interactions so that they can experience a smile that only animals can bring.http://animalassistedhappiness.org

05/31/2026

“To the bunny village!” Hear talk about the rabbits at the AAH Smile Farm and their very important job!

Reposted with Maya’s permission, you can watch the full video at https://youtu.be/4GRIyGGZuQU?si=Thv3AtL2gR50g2id

05/31/2026

‘s tour of the AAH Smile Farm from her vlog last year—meet the doves, ducks (including Dewey!) and the chickens!

Reposted with Maya’s permission, you can watch the full video at https://youtu.be/4GRIyGGZuQU?si=Thv3AtL2gR50g2id

05/30/2026

“It started in our backyard in 2009 and now it’s here”

Hear Maya and Vicki talk about how Animal Assisted Happiness came to be!

Reposted with Maya’s permission, you can watch the full video at https://youtu.be/4GRIyGGZuQU?si=Thv3AtL2gR50g2id

05/30/2026

You may remember that visited the AAH Smile Farm last year and made a vlog about it! We’ll be posting a few clips from it—here Maya spoke to our Youth Ambassadors about and the power of social media, and answered some of our questions!

Reposted with Maya’s permission, you can watch the full video at https://youtu.be/4GRIyGGZuQU?si=Thv3AtL2gR50g2id

Pics from some of our recent group visits at the AAH Smile Farm! (In order: Cherry Chase Elementary School, San Miguel E...
05/28/2026

Pics from some of our recent group visits at the AAH Smile Farm! (In order: Cherry Chase Elementary School, San Miguel Elementary School, Sutter Elementary School, and Bright Beginnings Preschool)

Riley’s beautiful smile marked the moment AAH was born!Riley Church was a typical horse-crazy little girl who dreamed of...
05/24/2026

Riley’s beautiful smile marked the moment AAH was born!

Riley Church was a typical horse-crazy little girl who dreamed of riding dressage in the Olympics and going to college to study veterinary medicine. She was always cheery and optimistic, had an impish sense of humor, an infectious laugh, and a big, bright smile. Her nickname, “Smiley Riley,” was well deserved.

Always thinking the best of others, Riley was supportive, caring, and compassionate beyond her years. She loved all animals, especially cats, dogs, horses, sheep, and goats. When she was eight years old, Riley started riding horses at Webb Ranch and soon the group dressage lessons with her friends became the highlight of her week.

Riley was diagnosed with an inoperable malignant brain tumor in 2004. She began an intense year-long program of radiation and chemotherapy, and bravely continued to go to school, take weekly riding lessons, enter competitive events and live as normal a life as possible. The following year, 2005, went well and Riley thrived, but in January 2006 she relapsed.

In April, when Riley could not go visit her horse, Louie, her dear friends asked Vicki Amon-Higa if they could bring her mini horse, Lollipop, to visit Riley. On the day of the visit, Lollipop arrived by trailer, walked up the driveway and through the front door! The look of pure joy on Riley’s face was wonderful to see. Lollipop came into the living room and went straight to Riley. It was as if Lollipop knew who she was there to see. For the next hour, Lollipop stayed with her head in Riley’s lap, letting Riley pet and love her. It was an unforgettable experience for everyone there.

Riley passed away a month later, in May 2006, at the age of 14. True to her spirit, she lived her life with a positive attitude and never let cancer define who she was.

This special interaction with Lollipop inspired us to create a place where youth with needs can experience the smiles only animals can bring. Our angel, Riley, is looking down on all we do, and Lollipop continues to create smiles at the AAH Smile Farm. Riley’s bright smile shines through each moment shared with a Barnyard Buddy.

- Vicki & Peter Co-Founders of AAH

Aventura knows her angles 📸
05/23/2026

Aventura knows her angles 📸

05/18/2026

We sat down with Linda Luu from Google, who has volunteered with us at AAH several times, to chat about what keeps her coming back! It’s great to hear our mission resonating, and we appreciate Linda helping to facilitate several corporate volunteer visits with her fellow Googlers.

Partner with us! Reach out to [email protected] to book your corporate visit for June or July.

Check out the full video on YouTube! https://youtu.be/BIACZ7UCs_I?si=jiADNR8P9K6Whlho

Thank you to Galav Malempati from Troop 493 for building a new fence for Lollipop and Jinglebell for his Eagle Scout pro...
05/18/2026

Thank you to Galav Malempati from Troop 493 for building a new fence for Lollipop and Jinglebell for his Eagle Scout project! The fence is looking great!

Address

999 Caribbean Drive
Sunnyvale, CA
94089

Telephone

+16508870887

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