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Amanda Balionis recently celebrated a key milestone on Instagram for her nonprofit organization, Puppies & Golf. Known for her love of dogs, the CBS Sports reporter has long been dedicated to supporting animal shelters and promoting dog adoption across the country.
Amanda Balionis, who launched Puppies & Golf in 2020, posted a joint update with the organization’s official account to share their impact so far. The post featured a three-image carousel that highlighted the journey and success of the nonprofit.
The first slide read:
"Told them I was starting a non-profit to help shelter dogs..."
In the next slide, she added: They said
"oh you can probably help a few dogs!...
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The final slide included a photo showing a parody of the Air Bud movie poster with a golden retriever mid-dunk in a basketball uniform. The title read: “HOLY AIR BUD”
The post also included stats about the nonprofit’s impact since its inception:
- Family Grants: $130,372.05
- Shelter Grants: $368,266.44
- Military Organizations: $182,500
- Total Donations: $681,138.49
- 94 Shelters Helped
- 38 Families Helped
These figures reflect Puppies & Golf’s charitable impact since its launch.
The caption on her post read:
"Couldn’t miss the opportunity to make an @airbudofficial reference! 🤷♀️"
The nonprofit organization donated over $100,000 to animal organizations in its first two years. In 2024, it raised a record $35,000 during Giving Tuesday. Since 2023, it has partnered with PetSense by Tractor Supply to give monthly grants to no-kill shelters and help with disaster relief efforts.
In an interview with Golf Digest, Amanda Balionis reflected on how the idea of Puppies & Golf grew into something larger:
“Once I realized that I had something here that people were getting behind and were as passionate about as I was, I realized there was definitely room to grow Puppies and Golf into something bigger. I wanted to continue to support K9s for Warriors but also all of these incredible animal rescues across the country and connect them to the golf community who seemed to have this huge passion for dogs.”
The Puppies & Golf account currently has 22.6K followers on Instagram.
Amanda Balionis and her love for dogs
When Amanda Balionis isn’t covering golf, she’s often seen spending time with dogs. Her Instagram bio even reads,
"There is very little that sports, ☕️ & dogs 🐶 can’t fix."
During the 2025 PGA Championship in Charlotte, Amanda Balionis visited Charlotte Animal Care & Control, a local shelter, and shared a video to help promote dog adoptions. She introduced some of the dogs currently available and encouraged people to either adopt or help spread the word.
The shelter takes care of about 400 dogs at a time. Around half are in foster homes, while the others stay at the shelter waiting to be adopted. Balionis also promoted Best Friends Animal Society, asking her followers to support both organizations to help give more dogs a second chance.
By using her platform during a big golf week, Amanda Balionis helped bring attention to the shelter and its mission.
