Every now and then one of our Veterans will write something .  The words from their point of view is so valuable in helping us understand   I feel honored that Justin Wright agreed that I could share one of  his poems with you….

Silent Cries

Can anyone see the real me
I have to disguise what I feel inside because people may despise the way I feel
I’ll build a wall that’s make believe
Full of thoughts and views so people can perceive that I’m cocky and full of myself
With this wall no one will see the things that could be considered to be the real me
Confusion and heartache has been foreseen
Through broken promises, lonely nights, and shattered dreams
Inside these walls I can hide my screams
Outsiders, try to pry into my life
There is no way I’ll submit myself to deal with the pain and strife
To weaken my walls I would leave myself open
To hoping and praying my heart won’t be broken
Trampled and shattered into pieces
I prefer to be left alone
To handle the sadness on my own
As you continue to pry I ask myself why
Where has my wall weakened
I smile, I argue
I even do work to get by
How is it possible to seemingly cry inside
Look in the mirror, the answer is no surprise
Body language can deceive
But through these eyes you can’t see these silent cries inside

Jeff Beck and Nala in training…..working on stairs, building trust, and ending with a run in the grass….yes, I said a run in the grass, I even heard Jeff laugh! The hug and the end shows just how well their paring is going…

Enjoy

Many times we are faced with the question of how people can help.

Where can I donate? 

How can I promote Stiggy’s Dogs in my community? 

What’s the best way to tell my friends and family about Stiggy’s Dogs?

These are great questions to hear as an organization, but they require some planning and preparation to be able to answer them in the best way possible.  As our organization grows, it has become clear that our community is our best asset.  All of you have stepped up in so many ways that it is impossible to list them here.  We cannot express our gratitude for those of you who have stuck with us through thick and thin.

In the future, though, we want to be able to have a way for people to show their support in more ways than one and to be able to spread the amazing story of Stiggy’s Dogs with their friends and family.  So many people keep up with us on Facebook, but we wanted to make information about Stiggy’s Dogs accessible to everyone, even those who do not use Facebook.

And this is where the Friends of Stiggy’s program fits in.

For $30, you can become a Friend of Stiggy’s.  Your name will be listed on our website and you’ll be one of our ambassadors in the public.  You’ll receive a free t-shirt to help promote Stiggy’s Dogs as well as access to Friends Only events, a quarterly Stiggy’s Dogs newsletter delivered to your inbox and more.  In your welcome packet, you’ll receive not only your t-shirt, but a few Stiggy’s Dogs handouts that you can give to people asking about Stiggy’s Dogs with our website and other information for them to follow up with us.

You can sign up any time at https://rally.org/friendsofstiggysdogs/.  Rally is a site that helps non-profits like Stiggy’s Dogs promote support and fundraising for their organizations.  It is a secure site and you can pay by check or credit card.  This also allows us to keep in touch with you about our Friends Only events and to send you the forthcoming Stiggy’s Dogs quarterly newsletter. If you are someone or know someone who would rather sign up by mail, please contact our Development Coordinator Kim Saks at kim@stiggysdogs.org.

Remember, Stiggy’s Dogs is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your donations are tax deductible.

By becoming a Friend of Stiggy’s, you’re joining us in the fight to Rescue One to Rescue Another.

I am more than happy and honored to be a part of the PAWS Community Service Learning Project Communication Group. (Warren School District Michigan) The projects, P.A.W.S. which stands for Promoting Academics With Service. Each of our classes in our district are taking a piece of their curriculum and tying it to animal education in some way. Our goal is to give our students a wonderful hands on opportunity to apply the curriculum they learn in their classes to benefit our community animal populations.

When Rebbecca Akins approached Stiggy’s Dogs about being part of this project, I was super excited.  We were invited to a School District meeting at Fitzgerald High School, to meet with the teachers and brainstorm on how we could work together.  Jessica Strye approached Donna and I and after our conversation this creative idea involved.  Jessica and I emailed back and forth over specifics for the past few days, each email making me smile bigger. These students were also very excited, taking  pride in their work. In one email Jessica expressed how ‘the students didn’t want to let us down.’ They picked out which pictures to use, and each one is hand painted, originally for each Veteran. Imagine that! The frames were donated and so was money for the postage. Each of our Veterans will receive in the mail this framed art.

A tribute to these dogs for their current Service to their Veterans. A Thank You to these Veterans for their Service.