RAISE A PUPPY CHANGE A LIFE In the early 1990s, on a plane ride home from a Caribbean vacation, Carolyn Hrach, now a resident of Masonic Village at Sewickley, was flipping through an airline magazine. She read about a service organization that uses volunteers to raise puppies in their homes until the dogs are old enough to be trained as service dogs. “For reasons that are not clear to me, even today, I decided that I wanted to raise a puppy for the organization, so as soon as I got home, I called to volunteer,” she said. After learning the service organization only recruited people from California, she began a two-year quest to find an organization that would accept her offer to raise a puppy. Eventually, the name Canine Companions for Independence came to her attention. Founded in 1975, Canine Companions is a national non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities – from adults, children, veterans and working professionals – by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. “The organization has six regions, so when you volunteer, you volunteer at the nearest region,” she said. “For me, it was in Columbus, Ohio.”
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Spring 2021 Issue
