Ride for Independence This Weekend

The Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation’s  Ride for Independence is this weekend, July 20^th in Bloomfield CT.

This is another very worthy charity event that the NLMC is participating in, donating to and volunteering for.

Here is a little background on their organization: Fidelco is a not-for-profit organization that relies on donations. 98% of each donation goes “To The Dogs”. There are less than 50 staff members and what they do with these limited resources is nothing short of amazing. They got their start as the pet project of Charlie and Robbie Kaman, founders of Kaman Helicopters, back in 1960. What they do is breed and train German Shepherds to serve as guide dogs for the visually impaired, search and rescue dogs, and cadaver and bomb sniffing dogs.

They place about 100 dogs a year, which means they need to breed 200 dogs a year, because even with selective breeding, not every pup has what it takes. And of the 100 that are placed, not every match works out in the long run. The pups that are selected are placed with foster families until they reach an age where they can be trained. The training starts gradually to get the dog accustomed to this change in lifestyle. Eventually they reach the point where the training takes up the majority of their time and becomes their whole life.

Much of the volunteers’ time is taken up in preparing food for the dogs. No commercial brand kibble here. They probably eat better than you do and each dog’s dinner is separately prepared for the needs of that dog.

When placing a dog with an individual the trainer will stay at a nearby hotel with the dog and increasingly work with the individual until both the dog and the individual are working together as a unit. As you can imagine this takes a considerable amount of time and expense, but the results speak for themselves.

Follow up visits are routinely made to ensure that the fit is good, provide any additional training and to make sure the dog is being treated well. 

A lot of demand has been generated through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan for injured veterans for whom there is no charge. Fidelco serves first responders and civilians as well at no charge.

Members of the New London Motorcycle Club have volunteered to stage the motorcycles coming in for the ride. Volunteers have been requested to arrive at Fidelco by 8:30 AM. If any members are interested in volunteering to help on site that morning please call Steve Natale at (203) 641-1677 for more info.

It’s not too late to register for the ride. Anyone that has not preregistered for the event and is interested in going can see the Treasurer, Paul Neves

 or myself 

at Thursday’s business meeting or at the meet-up spots listed below with payment. Please be sure to arrive earlier than the posted A.O.B. so we can leave on time.

TWO MEET-UP SPOTS

Dunkin Donuts, Rt. 32, Uncasville  A.O.B. 8:30 AM SHARP!  Please try to be a little early as we will be stopping in Glastonbury to meet up with other riders.

Glastonbury Home Depot  parking lot.    A.O.B.  9:30 AM. Again, please arrive a little early so we can depart on time.

This will get us to Fidelco before the police dog show and early enough to still lend a hand if you’re interested.

Hope to see everyone there

Thanks
Rich Jones