Patton, a two-year-old Belgian Malinois who was donated and trained for Project Kenny, was matched up with a medically retired combat veteran that had over five combat rotations. Not only did Patton help with the veterans anxiety, he also recognized when the veteran stopped breathing at night due to sleep apnea. Patton jumps on the bed with the veteran to wake him up and did this of his own accord without any additional training.
Our next Kenny Dog™ report is about Willie, a black Labrador retriever. Willie was named after William “Bobby” Doolan, an Army Green Beret who served for ten years. For those of you who don’t know the story, after his service, Bobby attended the University of Washington, earning a degree in political science. From the outside, everything seemed to be going well for Bobby, however, Bobby tragically took his own life on March 6, 2017. Bobby’s mother Carol, who had worked as a teacher up until her son’s death, retired from teaching and started training service dogs full time as a way to help support others who may be in need of this incredibly valuable support.
Willie was trained by Carol in remembrance of her son and was given to our second candidate, an active duty service member who had been combat wounded and who had recently lost his own son, a veteran himself, to suicide. The second candidate reported to us that having Willie meant a lot to him.
Our third candidate already had a canine companion named Willow. Willow was a pit bull who initially had a few issues with discipline around other dogs. Project Kenny was able to fund the training for Willow so that she could accompany our third candidate on his many travels and come with him to work. We are happy to report that after her training, Willow is now able to follow various commands in a room full of people AND other dogs! With Willow’s new training, and her induction into the Kenny Dog™ training program, the veteran, who can now bring Willow to work, was given a larger office at work to accommodate Willow (everyone at work loves having Willow reporting for duty).
Our fourth Kenny Dog™ was Gypsy and went to a veteran and his girlfriend. Gypsy is helping both the veteran and his girlfriend through some serious anxiety issues. The veteran’s girlfriend lost her son to suicide just over a year ago.
Our fifth Kenny Dog™ was Kingston who went to an Operation Desert Sheild / Storm veteran and his family in Wyoming. Kingston enjoys the water and going fishing and other outdoor activities. Kingston’s new family is very grateful for the addition of their new canine companion.
Our sixth Kenny Dog™ already had a companion but needed to be trained for service dog work. The veteran is a former Green Beret with PTS and TBI and training Cleo would prove to greatly help him in his day to day activities. Partnering with Lorenzo’s Dog Training Team, Cleo was trained to support this veteran during his day to day activities.
We run campaign efforts in order to unite trained service dogs with soldiers who can then become best friends and help each other when in need, as some of our dogs are dogs who are being given a second chance at life.
Project Kenny would not be able to share any of these stories of healing and second chances if it were not for the financial support of people from our community.
We are excited to announce that on June 14th, 2019, 3 more Kenny Dogs™, Joy, Bella and Scout, who were trained by Carol, will be heading west to be united with their new companions. We are reaching out to you today because we need your help to make it happen.
Project Kenny is certified at the bronze level through GuideStar, which is an organization that verifies and holds accountable non-profit organizations. This certification made us eligible for AmazonSmile, which is a way that you can donate to our organization with purchases made on Amazon (AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice). Instructions on how to add Project Kenny to your Amazon account can be found here.
If you have already donated to Project Kenny, we thank you for your donation and for your ongoing support of bringing veterans and active duty service members together with a beloved dog who can help.
On May 8th the GiveBig 2019 fundraising campaign went live. This was excellent timing as we were a little over a month away from our delivery date. We are very grateful for our donors as we were able to raise funds that will help ensure that our June 14th hand off will be a success. If you missed out on donating, you can always donate at www.projectkenny.org/donate and make a donation.
We are humbly asking for your support now so that Project Kenny can connect our three new candidates with their service animals. I have seen myself what a difference in a life these dogs can make. Please help us to potentially save a life and to thank our service members and veterans for all they have sacrificed for us.
Sincerely,
The Project Kenny Team