K9s For Veterans, NFP

A few weeks ago I took a continuing education course on VA loans. Little did I know that it would be a day that would change my life. K9s for Veterans was there to share their story and to surprise a Veteran with a service dog. The audience knew about the surprise but that didn't help me much. The Veteran, who had volunteered to train this particular dog, had boded with him and the dog felt the same! I met them on a break and this poor man/Veteran could hardly speak to me because he was so distraught at the thought of having to give up this dog, HIS dog. Personally, I am a huge dog lover and I've dealt with depression more than once. It was always my dogs that helped me through it. So, to see this Veteran and dog so upset was just heartbreaking. The service dog was trying so hard to calm this Veteran down but was equally upset. They finally called the Veteran and dog up on stage and when they said the words "Well, the bad news is it's time for Ghost to go to his new home, the good news is, that home is YOURS!" I swear this dog knew what she said and was so happy, wagging his tail, jumping on the Veteran like "SEE!!!! I TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE OK! WE'RE BFF'S!!!! WE'VE GOT THIS!!" Even as I type this I have tears streaming down my face. To see, no, to FEEL the relief coming off of this Veteran, who served our country with three tours, was a game-changer for me. Over 30k Veterans have committed suicide since 9/11 - almost five times the amount of those who died in combat.

So, I am running the 15k Tough Mudder event on August 27th in Rockford, IL to raise 15k for a service dog to be donated to a Veteran. My lofty goal is to complete as close to 30 obstacles as possible, in honor and memory of our Veterans and active service members. Thankfully, I have an amazing team running with me...TEAM UNLEASHED!

Gold Star Mom, Karen Vaughn spoke that day as well. She left us with this statement "LIVE YOUR LIFE IN A WAY THAT IS WORTHY OF THEM DYING FOR." Well, holy hell, how do you NOT do something after that????

So, please help me help them! K9s for Veterans saves dogs from high kill shelters and pairs them with Veterans and first responders in need. Founder and CEO Michael Tellerino always says "It's the gift that keeps on giving!" That it does. So let's start giving!