Walk for Those Who Can't Just Weeks Away

The 5th annual Walk for Those Who Can't is just a couple of weeks away, there are a number of questions for individuals and teams. Here are the most frequently asked and how Carolina Canines is handling this:

• People have registered under Join This Team and the amount I've raised is not showing. How do I know how much I've raised? Online registrations are tallied separate from donations in Firstgiving.com. Carolina Canines will be totaling online registrations + donations + offline donations and registrations for a Team and Individual Total.
• When can a Team Captain pick up the T-shirts for my team? Team t-shirts can be picked up the morning of the Walk on Saturday, March 26, 2011 beginning at 9 am. There will be a Team Registration table at Huge MacRae Park, Shelter 5 for all pre-registered teams. Only the Team Captain needs to check in for the entire team.
• Can I bring by teams registrations and donation to the office before the Walk? Team Captains can bring their Teams registrations to our office (1200 N. 23rd St., Ste 101, Wilmington, NC) until  Wednesday, March 23, 2011 if the Team wants to be included in the Top Fundraising Team and be eligible to receive special recognition the day of the Walk. If you need to make arrangements to come to the office after 4:30 pm, please call us to make an arrangement.
• I have not registered for the Walk, can I register the day of the Walk? People can certainly register the day of the Walk.  Registration/sign-in begins at 9:00 a.m.
• I registered online to I need to sign in on the day of the Walk? Yes. We ask you to check-in at the Registration area, Shelter #5 the day of the event to receive your t-shirt.
• Can I bring my dog to this event?  This is a pet friendly event as long as your pet is friendly. Please only 2 dogs per person.  A 6ft non-retractable leash is a must.  You must clean up after your pet.

To register for the Walk, click here.
 
The 5th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't is made possible by our sponsors including 
CBS10WILM, Queensboro Shirt Company, StarNewsMedia, Carrabbas's Italian Grill, Sunrise Broadcasting, SunnyFM 104.5, 98.7 Coastal Modern Rock, DogLiving Magazine, Port City Java, Brightmore of Wilmington, PawPrints Magazine, Dock Street Printing, Bax Photography and Wilmington Animal Healthcare.

Moses Last Walk

For those of you who don’t know me, let me introduce myself.  My  name is Moses.  And I am very proud to say I was the Founding Pup of Carolina Canines for Service.  

I was born on October 15, 1996 and I came into Ricks life on December 1^st of that year and actually the very moment Carolina Canines went from a dream to reality.  I know the elaborate temperament test that Rick does now, and let me tell you the night he picked me, there was no such test.  I was one of 13 puppies, it was cold and rainy and Rick was literally knee deep in mud, so as he held up each of us, he looked at me second, and then after looking at all the rest of the puppies, the same way he chose me!  Actually I chose him, he just didn’t know it yet.  I was the biggest and  most wiggly in the litter.  

And so it began.  It has been a tremendous ride, and I do mean ride.  As a service dog in training, an actual service dog, a demonstration dog, a therapy dog and a Paws For Reading Dog, I have flown and/or driven from Washington State to Florida, from Salt Lake City to our marvelous capital of Washington D.C.   Near as I can figure Rick and I have traveled well over a half a million miles together. I have met Senators, Congressmen, men and women of all ages, sizes, and shapes.  I’ve seen the organization grow from an idea and dream to one that has provided more than $4 million dollars in services to the communities we serve, free of charge.  

It is now March of 2011, and I am very old.  And I have done my job.  It is time for me to rest.  So on Friday evening Rick has invited our veterinarian over to our home and Rick will escort me to the Rainbow Bridge.  I will be surrounded by the ones who love me the most, and Rick will hold me in his arms one last time as I cross over the bridge to be met by a whole host of people and animals that will welcome me to the land where there is no pain and I can play like a little puppy again.  

I am asking for your help one last time.  I have had Rick and Pat create this fundraising page for me on The Walk for Those Who Can’t page, please donate.  I have given everything I have had to this cause and would do it all over again.  Let this be my biggest fundraising event.

I’ll be waiting patiently and will welcome all who knew me when you come to this place called the Rainbow Bridge.

Moses - October 1, 1996 to March 4, 2011

5th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't Registration Now Open

WILMINGTON, N.C.- Registration is now open for the fifth annual fundraising walk benefiting Carolina Canines for Service, on Saturday, March 26 at 9 a.m., at Hugh MacRae Park, Wilmington, NC. Teams and individuals can register for the Walk For Those Who Can't online by visiting www.walkforthosewhocant.org or calling (910) 362-8194.

            A minimum donation of $25 is required to participate in the walk. Children under 12 are free. On the day of the event, sign-in and on-site registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk 1.5 mile walk around Hugh MacRae Park begins at 10 a.m. This is a dog friendly event and participants are encouraged to bring their canine companions.

Last year more close to 400 individuals participated in the Walk For Those Who Can’t, raising $50,000 for Carolina Canines’ programs. Funding was used to support growing programs within the organization such as the Carolina Canines for Veterans, Carolina Canines for Therapy and Paws for Reading and the service dog program. Service dogs, valued at $40,000 each, assist people with disabilities regain their independence with the help of the quality trained dogs that can complete over 350 tasks.

 “The requests for our services continue to increase.  The support of the public is critical to our ability to continue providing services such as quality trained service dogs, certified pet therapy teams and community awareness programs” said President and CEO Rick Hairston. “This walk is a wonderful opportunity to learn about our many programs and support our mission through a sponsorship, donation, or participation.

            Support for the 2011 Walk For Those Who Can’t comes in part CBS 10 WILM,  Queensboro Shirt Company, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, StarNews Media, Sunrise Broadcasting, SunnyFM 104.5, 98.7 Carolina Coastal Rock, DogLiving Magazine, Port City Java, PawPrints Magazine, Dock Street Printing, Wilmington Animal Healthcare and Bax Photography.  Corporate sponsorship opportunities and volunteer opportunities for groups and individuals are still available by calling Carolina Canines at (910) 362-8194.

            Carolina Canines for Service is a non-profit corporation dedicated to empowering people with disabilities to achieve greater independence. The group trains and places certified service dogs with the help of volunteer foster families, provides pet therapy certification classes and helps children in our community improve their reading skills. Since its inception in 1996, Carolina Canines has placed 43 service dogs and the value of all the programs exceeds $4.0 of services to our community. For more information, call (866) 910-3647 or visit www.carolinacanines.org.

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We the People

This week the world news looked back on the remarkable day when President John F. Kennedy gave his inaugural speech and challenged every American to “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".  Every day while we sit in our cozy homes and snuggle into our warm beds at night, there is a man or woman who has given that up to defend our freedoms.  They have left behind a mother and father, brother and sister, husband, wife and children and gone to a hostile and harsh land.  When our service members return home, some are bruised and battered, missing limbs, shattered in ways many of us will never know, left to pick up the pieces of their lives and fit back into society. For some, the bruising and battering has gone further than the body.  It has bruised and battered their inner most self and they struggle to once again find who they are.   

We the people need to step up and serve the ones who have guarded and protected us. Some serve by volunteering in their local USO, others by packing boxes of goodies to be delivered to our service members, yet others help to physically build a home or a ramp.  For Carolina Canines, we serve by providing a medical option in the form of a quality trained service dog.  Not just any dog, a thoroughly assessed and highly trained creature that will change a persons’ life. 

This week, we celebrated the partnering of a Carolina Canines for Veterans service dog team.  One person, who has served his country and one dog trained to serve that individual.  Meet James and Abel.  James served his country as a Combat Engineer in the United States Marine Corps.  He has been deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.  In June 2006 during his mission in Ramadi, Iraq he was injured by an IED.  

Service Dog Abel was rescued by a Wilmington, NC rescue group, Tails U Win, and provided to Carolina Canines for Veterans after he  passed a temperament evaluation.  Abel then began his training which took place initially at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Brig before being transferred with the Carolina Canines for Veterans program to the Naval Consolidated Brig- Charleston.  Abel completed over 2,000 hours of training to be ready to serve. 

James continues to serve his country and works on healing his wounds.  Our hope is that Service Dog Abel will make it possible to regain more independence and the quality of life he and his family once knew.   We the people,  helping those who have served and serving our country.

Reason, Season or a Lifetime

This week my world was rocked with the news of the untimely passing of a friend. I did not know him well, but he came into my life because of a four-legged friend and he touched my heart.  I can only hope that I touched his.  


Life takes us down many paths.  Sometimes the path we take is not always easy.  There is hurt, physical or mental pain, good choices and those not so good.  There are hard times and times that are less hard.  There is laughter, joy, and tears.  


As the new year approaches consider how with just one smile, one kind word, might be a reason or a season for just one person.   That is all it takes to change someone's life, one person, caring. 


This message is dedicated to the friend that has left this world all to soon.  You know who you are and I pray we meet again in another season, but for a lifetime. - From my heart, Pat

Reason, Season, or Lifetime
People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. — Unknown