Grady Brown, the past President of the Rotary Club of Temple, Texas, had a great love for dogs. During an obedience course for his own dog, Grady met a classmate who was training a dog to be a therapy dog with Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). Grady was so enamored by the organization and process that he arranged for CCI to do a presentation at Rotary. As a result of the presentation, the current President of the Rotary Club of Temple, Dr. Phil Davis got interested in training a dog for CCI as well, and, so the “Journey” began.
Founded in 1975, Canine Companions for Independence® is a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. Canine Companions provides assistance for adults with disabilities who need service or hearing dogs to increase independence.
The assistance dogs for children perform physical tasks for children with a range of disabilities to increase independence with support from an adult. Wounded veterans and veterans with disabilities are matched with assistance dogs for greater independence. Professional assistance dogs are expertly trained and partnered with a working professional in a health care, visitation, criminal justice or education setting.
Phil went through all the training required by CCI to become a dog trainer, and then he received his dog, Journey, earlier this spring. Phil and Journey will be training together for 18 months. At the end of the training, if Journey passes all her tests, she will be paired with an individual who has qualified to receive a support dog through Canine Companions for Independence.
Phil’s journey is not complete yet. As President of the Rotary Club, Phil challenged the Club to conduct a fund raiser to pay for the training of one dog through CCI. The Rotary Club of Temple and CEFCO Convenience Stores in the central Texas area teamed up to conduct a fundraiser for the dog training. CEFCO allowed coin boxes to be placed at each location so that customers could make donations over a 10-day period. The donations of the customers and Rotarians totaled over $ 3400.