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Priority Area

SPM: Kelly Neu

Plan of Action MNJOTS CIP | Fall State CIP | Winter State CIP Trimester Transmittal LPM Monthly Report Outstanding LPM Nomination Form Project of the Trimester

Cash for a Cure

The Can Do Canines programming encourages MNWT members, chapters, and districts to become educated about this organization that has been helping people with disabilities through the use of assistance dogs since 1987. Can Do Canines works with individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or physically disabled, pairing them with dogs specially trained to alert them to important sounds or assist them in the activities of daily living.

Welcome to the second year of our priority area - Can Do Canines!  There are several opportunities for fundraising and support during this first trimester as well as throughout the year: Pet Gate at the Renaissance Festival (held weekends August 22 - October 4); Heel and Wheel Walk - Clifton French Park, Plymouth, on September 19th; Name a Puppy;
Applebee's Breakfast fundraisers; and many other opportunities - just let your imaginations go wild and spread the Puppy Power!

Since the beginning of this year, the areas of service dogs have been renamed and categorized into the following: Autism Assist Dogs; Hearing Assist Dogs; Special Skills Dogs; Mobility Assist Dogs; Diabetic Assist Dogs; and Seizure Assist Dogs. Please watch my CIPs for more information about these special dogs and how they help those in need. Or you can visit www.can-do-canines.org for more information!

Hello All You Wonderful Members!

We are in our final trimester of this year's priority area and our promotion is "Name A Puppy"! We are raising $2,500 to donate to the "Name a Puppy" promotion. In return, we will be having our President Anne name a puppy for the Minnesota Women of Today. We will be receiving a certificate, picture, regular updates of progress and training, and an invitation to our "Puppy's" graduation.

So please, make a chapter donation, district donation, run a specific project, or give me a call and say, "I will help. What can I do?" With the help of the entire state, I know we can meet this goal. It is my vision to have at least one puppy named after the Minnesota Women of Today to remind us of all our good works during the three years that we had Can Do Canines as a priority area.
For more information, please visit www.can-do-canines.org.

Chapter and District members, LPMs, DPMs

If you are not able to attend the Heel and Wheel Walk in Plymouth, please consider hosting a similar event in your area. Find a park, a school track, or create your own route. Invite your friends, family, and neighbors. Ask for donations.

• Set a date, preferably on September 19th to coincide with the Heel and Wheel walk in Plymouth (rain or shine). Choose a starting time, and determine the length of the race and the route.
• Decide how many participants your committee/helpers (and the course) can successfully handle. The more participants, the more helpers you will need.
• If you want the event to include such things as food, snacks, etc. you may want to set a registration fee.  For a short race like a 5K, charging runners and walkers a fee is preferable to having participants line up sponsors who pay by the mile. Whether a registration fee or pledges by the mile, this is totally up to you.
• Hold your initial planning meeting. Establish procedures and discuss policies for registration, media relations and publicity, volunteers, safety, traffic management, first aid and other services such as massage and foot care, food, rest rooms, accommodations, cleanup and entertainment.
• Approach potential sponsors to help finance, publicize or even organize the event. Contact an athletic or sporting-goods store, a running club, a podiatrist, and local sports hero. Solicit corporate donations for water, energy bars, other snacks and sports drinks to be handed out along the route and at the end of the race. Sponsors will always want to promote their product with giveaways such as T-shirts, caps and water bottles.
• Contact law enforcement agencies about local ordinances, road closures, traffic barricades, crowd control and security issues.
• Get the word out to as many volunteers, runners and walkers as possible. Contact a local TV station to see if it will get involved; maybe a news anchor is an avid runner.
• HAVE FUN!!! And raise money for the Can Do Canines!

Ally's Busy Day

Maureen Pranghofer received her Service Dog, Ally, from Can Do Canines in 2005 and she hasn't slowed down since. Ally has truly changed her life and she wanted to do something special to help support the organization that has helped her so much. She wrote a beautiful book for children called Ally's Busy Day to explain what a Service Dog does for someone in a wheelchair. It sells for $10.00 and $2.00 of that comes back to Can Do Canines. It is also a wonderful educational tool for children to teach them about diversity. The people that have purchased it for their children are raving about it! Ally's Busy Day will be available during conventions and at presentations made throughout the state. If you would like a copy, or a packet of 10 for a local or district meeting, please e-mail me, and I will arrange to get it to you.