Walk for Those Who Can't- Focus on Our Sponsors

We have a great team of sponsors for our upcoming event, The Walk for Those Who Can’t, and we want to tell you a little more about what great things they do--besides help out our organization! We will be showcasing a few of our sponsors over the next few weeks leading to the walk so that you can check them out too!

Home Health Testing is a main contributor to our upcoming event, The Walk for Those Who Can’t! As a company, Home Health Testing provides FDA approved medical home test kits and home drug test kits to individuals to use in the privacy and convenience of their home. They are an internet company located here in Wilmington, NC.

Did you know that you could test cholesterol levels, thyroids, or even for allergies IN YOUR OWN HOME!? While their most popular test is a home HIV test, the varieties of drug testing kits they offer are gaining popularity. All of their testing supplies are much cheaper than anywhere else and you get them delivered right to your door!

After speaking with Dana Jaunzemis, the President of Home Health Testing, she said the reason she chose to be a sponsor for The Walk for Those Who Can’t is because of the compelling stories of the “Triple Win” video that really showed her what we are all about here at Carolina Canines for Service! Ms. Jaunzemis explains, “we love that they rescue dogs and work with prisoners in addition to the great gift of providing a service dog that gives someone greater independence.”

Looks like we aren’t the only ones who bring our dogs to work either! Home Health Testing is a dog friendly workplace, and it would not be uncommon to see Rose or Oliver (featured in the picture) in their office!

Come out on March 27 to the Walk for Those Who Can’t to meet the Home Health Testing team, “The Dawg Pile”!

Using Firstgiving for Walk for Those Who Can't

Firstgiving is a great tool for registration and online giving for an event like the Walk for Those Who Can't. But, with any tool, it can be confusing. There's been questions on how a person or team can see there Walk for Those Who Can't fudnraising total so, here are some commons questions and answers about using Firstgiving.

I registered for the 2010 Walk for Those Who Can’t and created a fundraising page, my amount raised still says $0.00 on my page?
Donations for registrations are tallied separately in Firstgiving from Donations made to your Fundraising Page.

How will my Team or Individual Total be determined?
Each person that registers for the 2010 Walk for Those Who Can’t makes a donation of $25 and can also create a fundraising page and set a fundraising goal. The fundraising goal does not include the registration donation.

When the Walk Planning Team tallies the donations to determine the Top Fundraising Team and Individual, we will include:
a) Registration donations for each registered person on a team or each individual
b) Donations made to the Team or Individual online using Firstgiving
c) Donations made to the Team or Individual offline

Here’s an example:
-Georgeanna has a team, The Legal Beagles
-They have a goal to raise $500; So far they have raised $0.00 online with Firstgiving
-The Legal Beagles Team has received $25 in offline donations
-The Legal Beagles have 5 adults and 1 child under 12 registered for the Walk with total registration donations of $150.00
-The Legal Beagles Team Total to date is $175.00 (Online registrations + online donations + offline donations)

How can I see who has registered on my team?

On the Team Page, in the upper right corner, click on the Team Name and another screen opens to show all the member of the team that have registered.

Walk for Those Who Can't -Tips for Creating a Fundraising Page

Here are some tips for individuals to register for the 2010 Walk for Those Who Can’t, joining a team and creating a fundraising page

First, register for the event and join a team:

Visit our nonprofit page at http://www.firstgiving.com/carolinacanines

• Click Get Started and Select 2010 Walk for Those Who Can’t
• To register for the event, click “Yes, register online now.”
• Select the registration type, the number of people you’re registering, and read and agree to the waiver, then click Continue.
• If you’ve used Firstgiving before, log in to your account. If not, enter your email and click Continue.
• Fill out your account details and click Continue.
• Next, enter your registration details and click Continue.
• Join or add your team.
• If you’re registering another person, enter their registration details and add them to a team.
• Confirm your registration submission.
  

Next, create your fundraising page:

• Click Create Your Page at the bottom of the registration confirmation screen.
• Choose your web address and click Create Your Page.
• You’ve successfully created your page.
• To tell your story, add photos, set a fundraising target, then click Personalize and Share Your Page. Once you’ve edited it, click Save and Continue.

Now, click Email Your Friends to share your fundraising page with your community.

It's that easy and you are on the way to helping the mission of Carolina Canines for the 4th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't.

Dog Show of Another Kind

While many people are watching the Olympics, others fancy watching the canine breeds strut their stuff in Madison Square Garden show ring. It’s the season and like many dog enthusiasts, maybe you and your canine friend have been sharing some time in front of the TV watching the most prestigious dog show in United States at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It may be the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting or Herding breeds and varieties that you love to watch or even the Sporting, Working, and Terrier breeds, but whichever the breed, these pooches are likely the most primped and pampered you will see.

As for us, we know some pretty incredible dogs. These are the ones that were saved from death to be trained as service dogs for veterans in the Carolina Canines for Veterans program or raised from puppyhood to help someone in the civilian community. We might not know if the dogs are pure bred or which group the dog might be shown in, but there is one thing we do know, these dogs will help someone gain back the independence they lost because of a disability. Be it a missing limb or a traumatic brain injury, balance issues, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury, a service dog can and does change the life of just one person at a time.

If you are amazed at the dedication of the show handlers at Westminster Dog Show, what is truly amazing are the many volunteers that commit to raising a service dog for someone in need. Their dedication is a gift of love and compassion, many hours of work and the ultimate gift of giving the dog to someone with a greater need than their own. Someone is waiting for you right now to just say yes. Yes, I want to raise and train a dog for someone with a disability. It’s as easy as that, just say yes.

Registering for the Walk for Those Who Can't, Just A Click Away

Are you interested in registering for the Walk For Those Who Can’t, but you are not sure where to begin? Here’s some simple tips to get started.

Do you want to form your own team?
Visit http://firstgiving.com/carolinacanines and click Register for An Event and select the 2010 Walk for Those Who Can’t and follow the instructions on screen to:

• Register online ($25 donation required)
• Create your own fundraising page
• Register off-line

Once you have made your selection, you can easily create your own fundraising page and recruit people to your team or ask family, friends and co-workers to sponsor you by making a donation

Do you want to join an existing team?
Visit http://firstgiving.com/carolinacanines and click Join a Team

• Register online ($25 donation required)
• Create your own fundraising page
• Register off-line
• Locate your team and join them.

Here is a link to some helpful Q&As: http://help.firstgiving.com/

Folks are welcomed and encouraged to register for the Walk, create a team, and recruit others to help you reach your goal. There will be special recognition for the Top Fundraising Team and Individual! The total of registrations plus donations will be used to determine the Top Fundraising Team and Individual. All registrations must be completed by Wednesday, March 24, 2010 to be eligible.

Come out and meet the Army Wives and let’s make this the best Walk for Those Who Can’t yet!

Volunteerism, the Heart of A Non-Profit

This month has been a busy one for volunteer awareness. Many of the large local businesses graciously opened their doors and welcomed local non-profits in to showcase the work they do in the community and talk with their employees about volunteer opportunities. In the past few weeks Carolina Canines visited with Corning employees and enjoyed time at the PPD Charity Day; a job well done by the employees who coordinated these events.

This past weekend, Star News hosted the Conscience Fair, thanks to Si Cantwell and all his work organizing and recruiting non-profits. The Conscience Fair was well represented by many worthy groups offering volunteer opportunities. And, while I would love to say everyone wanted to be part of Carolina Canines, people are diverse and have many interests. If a person could not find a volunteer opportunity to be involved in, they were not really looking.

On February 18, 2010, Carolina Canines will be one of about 20 non-profits at the Have A Heart event hosted by the Wilmington Young Professionals. This is an opportunity to showcase our non-profit and build capacity of our volunteers with young professionals in our community.

If you are a volunteer still looking for an opportunity in our community, Carolina Canines has opportunities for you. But, first, let me tell, we do not have a kennel at our facility. All of our servic dogs in training are in foster homes where they need to be to learn to live with a family. To learn about our volunteer opportunities, please our website at http://www.carolinacanines.org/.

We are always in need of foster families to raise and train a service dog in Wilmington, NC or Myrtle Beach, SC, Carolina Canines for Therapy teams, fundraising /event volunteers and committee / board members.

There are many resource online to help find a volunteer opportunity. Here are just a few:
1-800-volunteer.org
Volunteermatch.org