NEWSLETTER 40 MAY 2004
21 Years of Volunteerism
How
many on premises volunteers does it take to make Canine Helpers a success and
make all our dogs happy? Currently over
45 fantastic kids and adults are making this happen! We have two large separate groups that come
in on Saturdays. They include community
service kids, Girl Scouts, honor societies, retirees, and many other dog-loving
people. They do obedience training,
brushing, bathing and exercising, and they give the dogs that extra lobe and
attention they always crave. Thank you
all for playing such an important part in Canine Helpers.
* * * *
Congratulations Graduates! 
Graduation
ceremonies at
Susan
Nowicki & “Kenji”, Service Dog – Golden Mix, Williamsville , NY
As a
dignified Canine Helper, I, Kenji, have
an embarrassing confession to make. My companion Susan calls me “Angel
Paws”. It makes me blush….understand
that she calls me that when I bring back the crutches that slip out of her hands
sometimes, or pick up things like her pen, coins, etc. that her dystonic hands
drop or just cannot get a grip upon. I
open and close the doors for her when she
is walking with her crutches or using her chair. We go lots of places: to stores, the library,
and physical therapy. Some are just for
me – long walks on wooded paths on nice days or the mall on those nasty
ones. Rich, our trainer, has taught me
to get the phone or to pull the emergency help alarm cord if my companion needs
help beyond what I can provide.
In
January our garage door froze shut and we had to walk into the house, and we
made it ok! The next day we did not make
it back out to the van. Susan slipped on
the icy walk, her crutches flew into the snow banks and she ungracefully landed
on the walkway. I checked her face to
see if she was playing a joke on me…nope it was a real problem! I got her crutches from the snow piles, and
gave her the crutches and all the encouragement and bracing I could, but it was
too icy! Susan asked me to bark, but no
one responded so she sent me off to find help.
I went to the door of the shop across the street and barked until the
guy inside came out. He followed me back
and helped Susan up.
For
this my companion Susan thanks me with words, love, scratches, “cookies”,
blankets, and a jazzy squeaky monkey and other toys. And I provide her with my love, service, and
my canine humor – because it makes Susan laugh.
Thank
you to all at Canine Helpers for bringing us together: Beverly for her vision
and persistence in making that vision reality, Rich for training us, the Kennel
Staff for helping me grow up to be a good service dog, and Colleen who keeps
track of the paperwork. A special THANKS
to all the Individuals, Service Organizations, Businesses and Church Folks who
have helped to raise support for our training costs.
Hilary Moore & “Shimmer”, Hearing Dog – Golden
Retriever, Paragould , Arkansas
Hello. My name is Hilary Moore. I am 13, and I am a three time cancer
survivor. The chemo and radiation used
to save my life took away most of my hearing.
I am hearing impaired; I can hear a little, but not much. For about a year I had been talking about
getting a Hearing Dog. A friend of my
mom’s has donated puppies to Canine Helpers and had a little female Golden
Retriever named “Shimmer”. My mom contacted
Shimmer
helps me with every day sounds like the telephone, knocks at the door, my mom
calling my name and the alarm clock.
Shimmer has made my life more independent, and she helps me relax
because I don’t have to listen so hard.
I don’t have to wonder if I heard something or not, because Shimmer lets
me know. My mom no longer has to chase after me in the stores – Shimmer lets me
know when she is calling my name. Now
Shimmer is my best friend and I don’t have to be lonely any more.
Canine
Helpers not only gave me a great dog, but while I was training at the Center,
they also showed me how much fun snow can be!!!
A
BIG THANKS to Beverly and Rich and the whole Canine Helper crew! Thanks Rich for being so patient with
me. I also want to give a very special thanks to Sherry Redden (Shimmer’s breeder). THANK YOU!
* * * *
Beautiful king size
Amish Quilt Raffle
Shades of burgundy,
green and cream
Donation: $2.00 per ticket or $5.00 for 3 tickets
Drawing
Tickets available at our
center
(to see photo of quilt click our “current events” page)
* * * *
Our Bakers are the Best!
As many
of you already know, Canine Helpers holds several Bake Sales during the year,
and we’d like to thank all of you who look for our goodies at Summit Park Mall
in April and October, as well as at our Summer Open House in June and Christmas
Open House in December. We hope you find
them tasty!
And thank you to our
“never-tiring bakers” who always manage to fill our tables with the best
looking, best tasting home-made goodies around!
You’re the best!
* * * *
Building Fund Challenge
As Canine Helpers has grown over the past 21 years, our
needs have grown also. We are finding it
increasingly necessary to build a garage to house our wheelchair van, mini-van
and grounds-keeping equipment in order to keep them in good operating condition
and out of the harsh elements. To
accomplish this, we would like to add on a 24’ x 30’ garage at the cost of
$16,000.
This much needed garage would also
provide us with proper storage for the many wheelchairs, scooters, walkers and
other medical equipment donated to us over the years. This equipment is essential to the custom-training
of our dogs for people with various disabilities. Currently, we must store all of our equipment
in our training room, reducing our actual training space. When needed, our new garage could also be
used by our 45 weekly volunteers for obedience training, dog grooming or many
of the other tasks they perform that are essential to the operation and growth
of Canine Helpers.
NOW THE GOOD NEWS! A local group is considering “matching funds”
with generous caring people who would like to help sponsor our garage! You can take advantage of this by sending a
donation through this newsletter, or by supporting our special Building Fund
event at our June 5th Open House. To honor all who contribute $500 or more, a
commemorative plaque will be on display in our training room.
We thank all of you who would like
to help us reach our $16,000 goal!
* * * *
PET
GIFTS
All proceeds benefit the Caring Canine Retirement Fund
Each item will have your special
dog or cat’s name embroidered on it, and includes
paw prints and milk bones. Great birthday or new puppy gifts!
Thermal dog or
cat blanket $15.00
Mini “wet paws”
towel $5.00
All items are wrapped and ready to give. Call
* * * *
Consider becoming a
member
of
Canine Helpers for the Handicapped.
If you have not already done so, this would be
the perfect time to become a member. By
doing so, you will be helping a very deserving person with disabilities lead a
more independent and secure life through the use of a custom-trained assistance
dog.
Memberships are for one year, July 1st through June 30th. Membership forms can be found when you click
the “Membership” page on our web site for your convenience.
We all thank you for your support!
* * * *
Please send all Tops register tapes directly to Canine
Helpers at
5699 Ridge Road Lockport , NY 14094
* * * *
As always, we
thank you for sending us your Tops tapes.
As most of you know, we receive $1 for every $600 worth of tapes turned in. If you prefer, you can send just the lower portion
of your tapes, but be sure to leave the total on.
Please send tapes
directly to Canine Helpers at our Lockport
* * * *
Please
let us know if we need to correct your name or address
on our mailing list.
* * * *
Remember
Heartworm checkups and preventative
for your pets!
* * * *
We dedicate this
newsletter in
Loving Memory of
and in Honor of
Marion and Arnold
Underwood’s 50th Wedding Anniversary
* * * *