One family helps match children with diabetes to service dogs through Mandy's Angels

Mandy was the oldest of the three Morris girls growing up in Meredith in the 1970s and ’80s. When she was 7, Mandy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and her life became a struggle to keep her blood sugar in the normal range. Her high blood sugars were very high, and the lows, very low.

By the time insulin pumps came along as the first innovation for diabetics, Mandy was in college; her eyesight had been affected by the disease, and she couldn’t see well enough to use the pump independently.

Even after Mandy graduated college and married, her parents and two sisters worried about her constantly. As a family, they created a GoFundMe campaign, and in 2014, two years before Mandy turned 40, they raised $25,000 for a diabetic alert dog named Mylo.

“One of us always had eyes and ears on her, or stopped by to help,” said Mandy’s sister Annie Grier of Meredith. “After Mandy got Mylo, it was a sigh of relief.”

Mylo alerted Mandy when she started to exhibit signs of a low or high blood sugar level, and she would either take more insulin, or get a snack. But in the middle of the night on Feb. 22, 2019, Mandy was having trouble sleeping. She left her bedroom but didn’t wake Mylo and take him with her. Her blood sugar plummeted, and she suffered a cardiac arrest and died. She was 42.

“We wanted to start something so we could help other children,” said Mandy’s father, Kevin Morris, also of Meredith.

So, Grier, an operating room nurse at Concord Hospital-Laconia; Morris, who runs the Kevin Morris & Associates sales agency; and Mandy’s other sister, Kelly McAllister of Nashua, a nurse practitioner at Lowell General Hospital in Massachusetts; came together with a memorial idea that would help others like Mandy.

They partnered with Diabetic Alert Dogs of America in Las Vegas, and founded Mandy’s Angels Diabetic Service Dogs Inc. Their nonprofit became an official 501(c)(3) organization in 2023. So far, they have paired four children with Type 1 diabetes to a diabetic alert service dog. The fifth will go to Xavier, 8, of Acton, Maine, next spring.

“It’s emotional, and it’s a really good feeling that we can do this, and we will continue to do this,” Morris said.

Paws for a Cause

To support their nonprofit, the family is organizing a Paws for a Cause 5K run and walk, with a virtual component, on Saturday, Sept. 13, beginning in Hesky Park in Meredith. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the race starts at 10 a.m.

Participants are invited to each bring one dog. Register in advance at runsignup.com by clicking on “Find a Race” and typing in “Mandy’s Angels.”

Prizes, raffles, music with a DJ and food will be offered, and Maybel, the Bristol Police Department’s K9, will do a demonstration after the run.

Mandy’s family hopes to raise $25,000 through the race.

“Seeing how Mandy suffered, I ask myself, ‘If someone gave us a dog when Mandy was diagnosed with diabetes at age 7, would she still be living now?’” Morris wondered. “We don’t know that, but we do know she wouldn’t have had the severe ups and downs all her life.”

How it works

Families can apply for a diabetic alert service dog at mandysangels.org.

Grier says the family receives about seven to nine applications each year, and passes one child’s name on to the larger organization in Las Vegas, which does an intensive screening.

“They make sure the family is a good fit for the dog, and the dog is a good fit for the family,” Grier said.

“Then we pay Diabetic Alert Dogs of America for the training and the delivery of the dog, which is about $22,000 to $25,000 each time,” Morris said.

As donations have increased over the years, from individual gifts of $50 to $100 to larger gifts from businesses, the family thinks if the trend continues, they may be able to place two dogs a year.

Gratitude

In July 2023, Elias Cullinan of Temple was unexpectedly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes shortly after his 6th birthday. Combined with previous diagnoses of autism, ADHD and developmental delay, the experience was overwhelming for his family.

Mandy’s Angels paired Elias with Hazel in February 2025, right before his 8th birthday, and the dog alerted him of a blood sugar issue within minutes of entering their home.

“She has been life-changing, alerting up to 40 minutes before blood sugar changes become unsafe, both at home and out in the community,” his mother, Kasandra Cullinan, said. “Hazel has brought safety and comfort to Elias and our entire family. We are forever grateful to Mandy’s Angels for this incredible gift.”

Easton Merrill of Yarmouth, Maine, was paired with Banksy in February 2024, when he was 6.

“Banksy has been one of the greatest gifts our family has ever received,” said his parents, Trisha and Chris Merrill. “He has been flawless in alerting us when Easton’s blood sugar is dangerously high or low — even stepping in when our technology failed.

“On Easton’s hardest nights,” they added, “Banksy is his comfort, his calm and his best friend.”

Helping in the fight

“My sister Kelly and I both share the same emotion,” Grier said. “When you lose somebody, you try to find a way to channel that grief. By doing this for Mandy, it helps us channel what would be grief and sadness into helping somebody else, and that is the best feeling in the world. It’s super emotional as a family, but we all love that we’re able to possible save a child from dealing with all the things that Mandy had to deal with.

“They’re fighting this disease, and we’re trying to help them in the fight.”