Help a Child Recieve a Service Animal at the 4 Paws for Ability Fundraiser Saturday

We've talked a few times about the need some autistic kids have for a service animal.  They really help in some ways with repetitive or destructive behaviors, and much more. 

This is Owen Thomas.  He’s nine years old.  He’s a child with autism. Sometimes the children who have autism can’t respond to their name, or can’t communicate in a positive way to tell their parents or teachers what’s wrong.  Sometimes they’ll end up hurting themselves or others with behaviors that they try to use to calm themselves down.  So what ends up happening sometimes is a child will “run off”  and it can be very hard to find them. Every parent has that fear that something will happen to their child, just imagine how hard it would be if you had those added challenges!

A service dog, as you know, is a very specially trained animal.  It takes a long time to teach a dog normal everyday things like housebreaking or even tricks, so you can see how it would be even more difficult to train a dog to search for a specific child or to see repetitive behaviors and try to stop them.  It costs over $20,000 dollars for the right dog to be trained for each child.  It’s expensive, but it’s worth it to the family who is trying to make life as easy as possible for a child with autism.

So, there have been several fundraisers for the Thomas family to help them raise the money to go to the Paws 4 Ability group and get their son, Owen, an assistance dog.  They’ve done softball tournaments, hair coloring, fun runs, all sorts of creative fundraising ideas.

This weekend they're having another big fundraiser party.  This time it'll be at the Dresden School on Saturday, June 29.  It'll begin at 11:00 a.m. and it'll run through about 3:00.  They'll have BBQ pork, hot dogs, burgers, BBQ beans, chips, dessert and a drink for $6.  There will be a silent auction, crafts, Snap! Photo Booth, and a bounce house.  All proceeds go to 4 Paws for Ability in honor of Owen Thomas.

So why not stop by, have some lunch, bid on a couple of things, and help Owen get the dog he so greatly needs.  And, you'll have a great time while you're doing it!

Paw-ily yours,

Behka