EZ Heating Pads, Hug a Turtles and Hotpak Huggies are all owned by Belinda Aquino Enterprises.  We are based in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

All the HotPak Huggies are created and manufactured by Belinda Aquino, the owner of Belinda Aquino Entp.  She has been making EZ Heating Pads for over 10 years and decided to expand her business with these cute, cuddly, huggable and FUNCTIONAL heating pads in the shapes of dogs, cats, bears, ladybugs, frogs, turtles, etc.

Many times I get asked how I started and created HotPak Huggies.  Well, I have to say that God played a big part of it.  Situations came up in my life that brought my creations to life.  I met my boyfriend, Art Marko, about 5 years ago.  I travelled with him and did trade shows with his product, Shrinkwrap systems.  At the second trade show I went to, a manufacturer of stuffed animals was right next to us, it was in New York. That is where I found my first hotpak huggy, it was a sea turtle.  As soon as I saw it I thought, "that's a heating pad!," and I talked to them about it.  The animals were not microwave safe, but the owner liked me enough to suggest modifying the animals to make them microwave safe. 

I did it and I got my first HotPak which I called "Hug a Turtles".  I first filled them with a hard kernel corn.  I even named each one and made up the tags on my computer.  They started selling so quick and I got such great feedback from my customers that I knew I had something good. 

I didn't like using the corn anymore because it smelled and sometimes bugs, I call them corn bugs, came from the corn.  So I started looking for something else.  I tried every heat enabled thing out there except for gel packs.  A friend worked at a close-out place in the strip district in Pittsburgh and he said they had about a thousand gel packs for real cheap.  I didn't think gel packs would work right so I always said no.  After months of him getting on me about using the gel packs, I finally tried it and it worked great and was just the perfect heating element.  This was a time when I think the Man above helped out.

I started using the gel packs and when they were gone I tried every gel pack manufacturer in the U.S. and finally found the one that worked right.  At the same time I was working full time with AFLAC, yes the duck, insurance company.  I was splitting my time in two.  About 3 years ago I knew I had to choose.  I couldn't do both any more.  With alot of thought, I chose AFLAC.  The next week my website for HotPak Huggies went crazy.  God was telling me that I chose the wrong thing, so I quit AFLAC and started doing this full time.  It has grown ever since.  

A funny thought entered my mind soon after and shows how things come full circle.  When I was in High School, everyone used to say just dial 1-800-hugs for Belinda because I was always a very huggy person.  And now, 30 years later, my whole business is hugs. 

Now I bring hugs and comfort to thousands of people, from newborns to the elderly.  Lots of people with medical conditions find comfort with my HotPaks, parents and therapists use them for Autistic Children, Activity directors at nursing homes use them for Alzheimer patients for therapy, people with aches and pains use them to bring relief.  Parents with children who can't regulate their body temperature use them cold because they stay cold for so long.  It also helps with sensory issues.  And the list goes on and on.

I use them all the time and can't believe I have created such a warm, cuddly, functional product that actually works.  My kids and my grandchildren use them.  I have a 2 1/2 month old grandson, a 7 month old grandson and a 3 year old grandson.  We use them with the babies for warmth and colic.  My 3 year old grandson loves to cuddle with them at night (it helps him get to sleep) and first thing in the morning. 

So I consider myself very lucky and honored to be the one to bring my wonderful product to the world.  And I really thank God to have chosen me to do this.

I also want to thank my customers, without you all "spreading the word" my business wouldn't be so successful and fulfilling.

Through our commitment to you, our customer, we want to build a relationship that will last a lifetime!