To say ‘Thank You’ seems insignificant for the gratitude I feel. It’s hard for me to put into words the outpouring of support Stiggy’s Dogs received from the Channel 4 News story and my ‘cry for help’….

It all started after the realization that Stiggy’s Dogs was in trouble, after paying the bills at the end of May, the bank account sitting at $100. How did it get to this? I tossed and turned for nights. Knowing I was doing everything I could, literally working around the clock for months, not having enough time and manpower to it all. But I knew one thing, I was NOT going to let Stiggy’s Dogs fail. I have always been very open and honest on my blog throughout this whole process.  It is important for me to show the ups and downs of starting/running a nonprofit, the struggles with the dogs and training, the highlights of seeing the results we have witnessed already from our Veterans and dogs. So why stop now? I needed to ask for help, but putting down what I needed to say was very hard. To admit (somewhat) defeat, and embarrassingly show how raw and desperate I was….for the sake of Stiggy’s future……

Instantly I received replies! Emails from people who wanted to help, Volunteers and some donations. I sighed a huge relief as I started writing people back. A friend of Joe’s, Jessica Fosbinder sent a email about my blog story to Channel  4 News. They called asking to come by the next day to do a story on us! What? The next 24 hours were a whirlwind of excitement!  A Blur of Lauren Podell (Thank you-we love you), the interview, the anticipation of what will air. I was so nervous, sitting in front of the TV a half hour early. The 2 minute news spot seemed like 2 seconds. I couldn’t see anything, because I was crying from the first mention of us and bawling by the time they showed a close up of our Ben.  I was barley whipping my last tear and the first *ding* hit my phone. It took 6 minutes from the airing when we received our first donation through PayPal.  The tears flowed again. It was the BEST night sleep of my life! I feel asleep to the constant rhythm from the *ding* on my phone……..

The outpouring from our community is inspiring! Detroit, we ROCK! We care about our Veterans, our rescue dogs, and our nonprofits!.  Stiggys Dogs received many generous donations; even little donations that people could afford meant just as much!!! Together we raised enough to keep us going for the next two months!!!!! WOW! We can continue the paring of our current Veterans and their dogs as planned! We also received numerous emails from people all over who had time, experience, and knowledge to donate! I now have the help I need to organize some fundraisers, marketing, proof reading, etc. I can’t wait to get our new team together; we are going to take Stiggys to the next level! We have some exciting things planned for the community, Veterans and their families, and everyone across the America! (We even received donations and help internationally!!!) Wait, I am not done yet.  We also received donations of toys and beds (Jamie and Lillie Gorm), food (dog walkers;Kathy-Kelsy- Afton,  friend DeeDee Reno,and  Soldans) and a First Aid Kit/Book (awesome idea  Bonnie Stakor).

I personally want to thank each and every one of you who came to our aid. The help from all these strangers has renewed my faith in the good of humanity. I want every Military Veteran to know that Americans really do support you. That other citizens want to help, maybe they don’t know how, but we are raising the awareness for you. Almost every donation had a note referencing “Bless our Veterans”. The message was so clear and I am so PROUD to be a part of this……We are all ‘Rescuing One to Rescue Another’ together!