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Kari's Post-Con
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After the con… By Kari Tunnelkin The last morning we were in Calgary, Laura was explaining how her day was going to be busy getting all the remaining “con stuff” to Michelle’s house, when I offered the use of my van to make things easier. Michelle took me up on my offer, and I felt honored to be a part of “winding up” the convention. The trip, however, resulted in a big bag of cat and dog toys being left in my van. I want to give many thanks to Michelle for trusting me and giving me the time to find a perfect home for the items. I live in South Dakota, near Sioux Falls, so I took Michelle’s advice and gave them to an organization located here. One of my co-workers at Walmart introduced me to a passion of hers called Big Paws. Every year, thousands of vets return from serving their country and re-enter the civilian world. Many of these vets return injured and disabled from their service, and the transition back can be so difficult it often seems impossible. These heroes are trained to be self-sufficient, but for many the task of returning to civilian life is too daunting. That’s where Big Paws comes in. Operated entirely by volunteers, no one takes a salary and all donations go directly to the veterinary care, training, and equipment of the dogs so that they can be provided at little to no cost to veterans injured in the line of duty. Big Paws Canine Foundation is a 501 (c)3 registered IRS Non-Profit currently located in California, South Dakota, and most recently in South Carolina. The organization trains and provides Service, Therapy, and Companion Dogs to disabled Veterans and former First Responders injured in the line of duty. Along with the dog toys and treats, which were given to the therapy dogs, there were lots of toys and treats for cats, ferrets, and other animals. Those items are being used by the organization as raffle prizes, so that the veterans can occasionally treat the other furry members of their families as well. The website for Big Paws is: http://bigpawscanine.com/ |