A look back at 2020
We usually write a long “year in review” newsletter, but lets face it, 2020 was a year like no other. It started off with many opportunities ahead and special events planned throughout the year. Once quarantines started, the events were cancelled and we had to take a close look at how we could support the pups already in training, let alone meet the increasing need for these special pups. We focused on “finishing” the pups in training and completing projects to set up for when the pandemic eased up. 5 police comfort dogs transitioned to their departments, and we worked with 68 dogs this year! Needless, to say, we’ve stayed plenty busy!
We were put on call to help some of our friends overcome tragic events, said good-by to some of our long term farm “residents” and struggled like so many other nonprofits trying to figure out how to stay afloat while the requests for dogs increased. We had to create training opportunities to keep the pups on track with their environmental training and solicit help from friends – and everyone stepped right up! In swept a team of amazing volunteers who gave their time and skills, but most importantly, their patience while we navigated this difficult time.
When Swim with a Mission reached out to help us financially it was a game changer for our program – we were going to be able to keep helping our Veterans and we buckled up and took on the challenge. Their contribution allowed us to DOUBLE the number of pups placed in 2020! We even got to cross our long term goal of placing our 100th dog. While we take a breath to catch up on emails & messages, we hope you will enjoy a quick look at 365 days of chaos Here’s to 2021!!!