SORRY

First of all, I’m sorry for doing this.  I have never asked friends for a donation before.  But this project got to me on a couple of levels.

Year after year I have been solicited by friends for their charities.  I usually come through.  Many of them have been in the form of solicitations that state they are doing a ride, a run, a triathlon to raise money for -----.  Let me say that I am competing in The Ironman World Championship in Kona for myself.  As my sainted wife Polly describes my life, “It’s   all about me.”  But after hearing about Puppies Behind Bars  http://www.puppiesbehindbars.com  I decided to give the race fundraising idea a try.

Back to the ways the puppies got to me.  Polly trains therapy dogs and brings them to nursing homes to cheer up the residents.  It works believe me.  She also brings them to reading programs to sit and listen to children read who might otherwise be intimidated to read before other children or adults.  Not only is Puppies a great effort all on its own, but it resonates with me because of her work.  It also uniquely redeems both the giver and receiver.   You see, 8 week old puppies are given to people incarcerated for serious violent crimes.  They are taught to train these dogs to help veterans who have traumatic brain injuries or have suffered extreme psychological damage.  The prisoners become more human as a result of their connection to the animals.  The soldiers who receive the dogs are able to make a loving relationship that they seem incapable of developing with other humans. They are twice blessed.

If you can, I would really appreciate any donation you can make to this effort.  They have their own donation page, or you can go to my Facebook cause page   Click Here   and click on the donate link above the comment box.  Please feel free to tell me what jerk I am, especially if you give a couple of bucks.

Feel free to forward this to any dog lovers who might be suckered into giving something.  The puppies always get them.

I also promise never ever to do this again.