New Kid in Town

Working with Adopt An Angel , a Wilmington rescue, Carolina Canines for Veterans found a new dog to begin her training as a service dog for a wounded warrior. Jada (AKA Barrette) was hanging out at the local PetCo on Sunday afternoon waiting for someone to adopt her when Pat spotted her and placed a call to Rick. Unknown to Pat, one of our volunteers told us about the dog several weeks ago, but at that time there was not an opening in the program. Rick arrived and did a temperament test on Jada and was happy to tell the volunteers of Adopt-An-Angel that she was the newest service dog in training.

In front of the Adopt An Angel volunteers and a small crowd that had gathered around, Jada was told her very special mission of being trained to work with a wounded warrior, of the many skills she will learn, the good food and great treats and all the attention that will be lavished on her by the prison handlers. Jada had been with Adopt An Angel for some time, but her special someone had not found her. We figure things happen for a reason and she must have been waiting for us.

Carolina Canines continues to be grateful to the local rescues that are committed to their work in saving unwanted dogs and their willingness to work with us for our programs. Thank you Adopt An Angel for Jada and all the others that you save.

Friends for Carolina Canines

Carolina Canines for Service has joined the social media frenzy. Carolina Canines for Service (CCFS) is on the threshold of 400 friends on their ever-growing Facebook fan page. Social media has been a highly utilized tool in the non-profit sector in recent years and continues to expand at a rapid pace. Currently Facebook has 250 million users, with over half of them logging in daily! With those kinds of numbers, Talk, our local PR firm, urged us to pursue using Facebook as a marketing tool. In December of 2008 Carolina Canines started its Facebook fan page and the numbers began to rise.

Facebook is not a new tool, but it has grown substantially in use as a FREE marketing tool by many organizations and businesses. Thanks to applications such as events and RSS feeds, CCFS can update our fans about the latest activities we will be involved in as well as automatically pulling in other social media tools, such as this blog! Carolina Canines has also grown in popularity around the country with fans from New York to Washington and down to Arizona! Our fan page is a great way for all of our fans to stay in touch as well as watch our service dogs in training grow from a puppy in potty training to the placement with a much deserving individual. We have also used Facebook as yet another way to thank our many supporters. Nylabone also has a Facebook fan page, which CCFS has become a fan of and as such allowed our volunteers and fans to support the company that has supported us!

So how can you help us reach the 1,000 fans? Become a fan on Facebook and share with your family and friends. Find out how Magdalene is advancing as a service dog in training at the Marine Corps Brig at Camp Lejeune in our Carolina Canines for Veterans program. Learn about how you and your dog can become a Carolina Canines for Therapy. Visit Facebook.com and search for Carolina Canines to keep up to date with what’s happening in our many programs.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Carolina-Canines/40657237945

Carolina Canines Kicks Off 100 Days Fundraising Campaign

Carolina Canines for Service, Inc. launched the Power of 10 fundraising campaign on Monday, August 3. The goal of the 100-day initiative is to raise $60,000 – the cost to complete advanced training and place three service dogs.

The Power of 10 fundraising concept starts with 10 supporters donating 10 dollars each to Carolina Canines. They, in turn, ask ten of their friends to do the same, who in turn ask ten more friends ……… creating a powerful wave of support and fundraising dollars.

A kick-off for the campaign was held at Carolina Canines for volunteers, friends and supporters on Saturday, August 1. People gathered to enjoy complimentary hotdogs and drinks provided by the Board of Directors. Along with the Board Members, staff, clients and volunteers were on hand to get the wave of going. “This is an easy opportunity for our communities to help support the programs and services offered by Carolina Canines”, states Paula Zabkar, Board Secretary. “Power of 10 is easy, you donate $10 and ask 10 friends to do the same, and they ask 10 friends creating that powerful wave of support. You can do this in person or send an email. But, everyone already knows 10 friends they can ask. Include a personal story of your own about how your life has been touched by Carolina Canines or how you have touched others. By asking just 10 friends and those friends asking 10 friends anyone can easily raise $1,000 and reach our goal of $60,000.”

Did you know…..…

• 34 service dogs placed, valued at $1,292,000, but hundreds have been in training to achieve this



• 76% of placements are in North Carolina



• Service dogs are valued close to $40,000 each, know over 70 tasks and are provided at no cost to the person receiving the dog



• Carolina Canines for Veterans was started in January 2008 at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Brig and already five Wounded Warriors have received their service dogs



• Carolina Canines for Therapy has registered over 200 teams with over 90 active teams



• Paws for Reading helps children improve their reading skills in a fun, non-judgmental way by reading to the dogs



• We are over 200 Volunteers strong and our volunteers have donated 119,811 or an average of 2500 hours each month

Carolina Canines for Service is a non-profit corporation dedicated to empowering people with disabilities to achieve greater independence. For more information, call (866) 910-3647 or visit www.carolinacanines.org.