Fourteen years ago, Mary Ann Nolan and Leigh Corrigan were dealing with a problem and needed a solution.

Corrigan's daughter, Maggie, and Nolan's daughter, Elizabeth, were both 21-year-old women with intellectual disabilities. Their options for employment, Nolan said, were "bleak."

So in 2007, Waggies by Maggie & Friends was born. The nonprofit is a dog treat company that offers employment at minimum wage to adults with intellectual disabilities. The organization started with three bakers and has grown to employ about a dozen.

What's next? Sustaining operations and working with other organizations around the country, Nolan said.

Waggies by Maggie & Friends was awarded a $25,000 grant through Gannett's "A Community Thrives" program. It was selected as one of 16 national grantees.

The program had nearly 700 applicants from 45 states and Washington, D.C., 25,000 unique donors, raised $3.1 million and will have a $5.4 million total impact on communities across the country, according to Gannett, the parent company of Delaware Online/The News Journal.

"It means the world to us," Nolan said.

She said the organization needed the money to deal with two price factors: the rising minimum wage in Delaware and the increase in the cost of ingredients.

"We don’t want to have to raise our prices because who wants to pay more than $7 for dog bones?" she said.

"When push comes to shove, you’re going to go with Milk-Bone. It’s cheaper."

Waggies has more than 40 volunteers to go with its dozen or so bakers, Nolan said.

The group was hard at work Monday morning at Elk Lodge No. 307 in Brandywine Hundred preparing some 3,000 dog treats for Dogfish Head, one of the many local businesses that have teamed up with Waggies over the years.

Bakers are at the lodge Monday through Thursday and produce around 3,000 treats each day.

The first-ever customer for Waggies was Burns & McBride, the longtime Delaware HVAC company, which gave treats out to its customers, Nolan said. So, too, did Hillside Oil and Natural Lawn.

"They took a leap of faith," Nolan said. "They were being nice and believed in our mission."

Bakers and volunteers at Waggies were making peanut butter treats Monday for the Dogfish bags. The ingredients, Nolan said, were simple: peanut butter, milk, flour ...

"... and tons of love."

Nolan said there isn't an infrastructure for franchising opportunities, but Waggies has worked with other organizations in the region that share the same mission of employing adults with intellectual disabilities in an inclusive and vibrant work setting.

"Our volunteers are what makes it inclusive and vibrant," Nolan said.

"We’re not a day program. It’s jobs."

Five Delaware organizations, including Waggies, were also awarded operating grants through the Gannett program. They are below.

• Bethel AME Church - $5,000
• Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council - $5,000
• Waggies by Maggie & Friends - $5,000
• Boardwalk Buddy Walk Fund - $2,500
• Practice Without Pressure - $2,500

Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.