My employer encourages us to volunteer so this is what I picked (on my own). I first became aware of Fidelco soon after I moved to Connecticut many moons ago. American Youth Hostel organized tandem bike rides and hikes with the blind. And many of these people had seeing eye dogs (guide dogs) from Fidelco.
The weather today was unfortunately miserable: rainy and cold. My morning (9-noon) assignment was parking duty: directing visitors where to park in the field of tall wet grass. The drizzling rain was steady. Although I had an umbrella, a kind young mom insisted on providing me with a larger one (which I eventually used).
At noon I broke for lunch before switching to my afternoon position. I ate my meal of BBQ pulled pork (or was it chicken?), mac-n-cheese, cornbread, and cole slaw while listening/watching representatives of various Lions clubs present Fidelco with stunning donations.
I then moved inside where there were various tables (booths). My assignment was the Hartford Marathon table. Out job was to collect names of those who might consider running or volunteering on behalf of Fidelco at the October event.
I was fortunate to "work" alongside a young woman (Dakota) who delighted me by sharing her love of dogs and her career aspiration to be a guide dog trainer. Things got even more interesting when a young blind woman with her guide dog, USMA (as in US Military Academy [litters are named based on a letter of the alphabet and the puppy raiser for this particular dog had attended West Point and the litter letter was "u"]). This young lady was so enthusiastic about running up mountains and trails that she soon had Dakota and me (both of us having great excuses for not being runners) eager to take up jogging. She was hugely inspired by the book, Born To Run (by Christopher McDougall).
When I left home this morning, I was feeling anxious and depressed and uncertain. However, by the end of the event, my faith and hope had been restored by so many wonderful people and the magnificent and well trained dogs.
Below is press release for the event:
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation
Bloomfield Campus
This fun, family event featured:
- Dog Demonstrations
- Blindfold Walks ($5 suggested donation)
- Police K-9 Unit Demos
- Self-Guided Tours and Scavenger Hunt
- Caricature Drawings by Christopher Eastwood
- Face Painting by Haley & Zachary Weinberg
- Info-Shred - Secure, on-site document shredding while you watch. ($10 per box).
- Tea Cup Auction, and, of course,
- Fidelco pups!
- Woodside Studios
- Marc Youngquist
- The Dog Bone, LLC
- iHeart Radio/WFSB
- Harvey & Lewis Opticians
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Links:
https://www.fidelco.org/
http://www.chrismcdougall.com/born-to-run/
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Written Monday 28 May 2018
