AR-News: (MI - US) Bottles, cans help train leader dogs

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Bottles, cans help train leader dogs
2 women donate deposit fees to Rochester groupBy ERIN KOSNAC
    
COLLECTING FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Mary Burdick and Mary White pose with a few 
returnable bottles and cans they collected at Evangelical Home-Port Huron. The 
women donate the proceeds from the bottles and cans to Leader Dogs for the Blind.

Burdick and White head down the front hallway at Evangelical Home with 
bottles and cans they collected.


HOW TO HELPLEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND 
To contact the organization in Rochester, call (888) 777-5332 or visit <A HREF="http://www.leaderdog.org/">
www.leaderdog.org.</A> 

To donate bottles or cans, call the Evangelical Home-Port Huron at (810) 
385-7447 and ask for Mary Burdick. 
    

FORT GRATIOT -- Each week, the housekeeper at Evangelical Home-Port Huron 
ties a bag to Mary White's door. And at the end of the week, the bag is filled 
with empty bottles and cans. White, a resident at the Fort Gratiot nursing home, 
and Mary Burdick, a nurse assistant and activities aide there, started 
collecting the bottles and cans for Leader Dogs for the Blind during the summer. The 
Rochester organization trains leader dogs for the visually impaired. "I can't 
think of a worse handicap than blindness," said White, 78, who was diagnosed 
with multiple sclerosis in 1956 and has lived in Evangelical Home for about 14 
years. "To be able to do something like this feels good." White and Burdick, 
both animal lovers, have collected about $150 but plan to raise much more. 
Recently, they've been collecting $30 a month. "It's become our mission," said 
Burdick, 59, of Lexington. "And it's starting to become a little addictive 
around here." Burdick said about 80 employees and residents at Evangelical Home are 
helping their cause. The employees and residents bring the bottles and cans 
to White, who washes and dries them. Burdick stores the cans and bottles in her 
car before turning them in and collecting the deposit fee. Michele Thomas, 
activities director at Evangelical Home, said the ladies always are on the 
lookout for bottles and cans. "It's a dime," Thomas said. "Instead of throwing it 
in the garbage, you might as well put it toward a good cause." Leader Dogs for 
the Blind also has recognized White and Burdick's work, sending them letters 
of appreciation and pins. Leader Dogs President Bill Hansen said all 
contributions are important to the agency, which does not charge for its services. The 
cost of training a team, a person and dog, is about $30,000. The organization 
trains about 300 dogs each year for people around the world. White and Burdick 
said they're both glad to help. "But it is work," White said, while smiling. 
"I've got dishpan hands." <IMG  SRC="http://www.thetimesherald.com/art/envelope.gif" WIDTH="13" HEIGHT="9" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="863"> <A HREF="http://www.thetimesherald.com/customerservice/emailstory.html?Bottles,%20cans%20help%20train%20leader%20dogs#http://www.thetimesherald.com/news/stories/20040305/localnews/17466.html">Email this story</A> Originally published Friday, March 
5, 2004

Contact Erin Kosnac at (810) 989-6276 or <A HREF="mailto:ekosnac at gannett.com">ekosnac at gannett.com</A>    
    
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040306/54e1aa42/attachment.html