Georgie and I are raising $1000 for This Able Veteran, a service dog organization benefitting United States military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. If you care about pets and vets please:
- make a donation via paypal (link in sidebar)
- upload your receipt here (or just email it to me)
- we will match all donations up to $500
You can also donate directly via the Instagram post.
This Able Veteran runs a 3-week Trauma Resiliency Program that teaches veterans the mechanics of PTSD and pairs them with a canine partner to help them recognize the early symptoms of nightmares, anxiety, anger, or depression. The dogs are trained to intervene and help their veteran partners refocus and engage in soothing behavior. Learn more at thisableveteran.org.
I was in the Army from 1995 to 1998 and I’ve never really known how to engage with my status as a veteran. Usually the only time it really impacts me is if I’m getting some random discount or veterans are asked to stand up at a sporting event. The discounts are nice, but having only been in the Army for three years I don’t really feel like I deserve any benefits or accolades.
But I know a lot of people who served have made real sacrifices and experienced hard things. And the burden of those hard things is put on the shoulders of kids, many of whom join like I did straight out of high school, and don’t really know what they are in for. They end up ill equipped to handle the long term impact of those experiences and the idea of pairing people with a buddy (sorry Georgie, i don’t think they train poodle mutts) is pretty moving.
Thanks to Josh, Beau, Norberto, Grey, John, Kathryn, Marcus, Jaclyn, Dad and those that donated anonymously! A little short of the $1000 goal but still raised $375 which I matched so $750 in one day. Feels pretty good (plus the fundraiser actually goes for a month? was that a setting I missed?).
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