Our nationwide Bark Business Breakfast Tour hit the city that never sleeps with a patriotic breakfast for New York’s elite…. dogs. The paw-studded event honored United States Army’s Steven who was paired with Torii, Andrea Mixon who was paired with Jetta and Scott who was paired with Whiskey.
Andrea served in the U.S. Army from August 06 until March 08 and was honorably discharged as a PFC.
Scott & Whiskey
Scott, 37, who was a Sergeant in the United States Army, where he served for 10 years. He graduated from K9s For Warriors in March 2013, where he was paired with Whiskey, a Labrador. Whiskey and her littermates were turned over to the Leon County Animal Care Center in Florida due to hard times for their owner. She was found and fostered by an amazing family who donated her to the K9s For Warriors Program. Whiskey is a sweet, sensitive girl who immediately fell in love with her warrior, Scott. The two of them play endless hours of fetch, Whiskey’s favorite game. Scott has shared that he was suicidal before coming to K9s For Warriors, but woke up on day four of the program and realized that that was no longer true thanks to Whiskey. This is true recovery!
K9s for Warriors program was founded by Shari Duval after her son returned from war with PTSD. Duval claims, “The warriors arrive here broken on two legs and leave walking recovered on six legs r. They are able to do things that were not possible before they received their service dog.” She added, “These dogs provide more medical improvement for the warriors than all the drugs they have been placed on.”
After Animal Fair’s Wendy Diamond learned the alarming statistic that, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a Veteran affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or a Traumatic Brain Injury (STI) commits suicide every 65 minutes. She dedicated her “How To Train Your Boss To Rollover ” book tour to raise money for K9s For Warriors. Our goal was to raise at least $10,000 in New York to put one Veteran and one canine through the successful K9s For Warriors program. We far exceeded our goal and happy to announce that two Veterans with PTSD in New York can now apply to the K9s For Warriors program – thanks to all of our generous donors!
New York’s brightest hearts joined Wendy and Baby Hope Diamond and the Animal Fair Media team to honor the lives of Veterans that have selflessly protected our nation. Grateful to our NY team including renowned financial guru Andrew Kahner, Koller group Founder Ed Koller, Director Alex Merkin, Peter Krainik – founder of the CMO Club, Mom Expert Raina Seitel, Actress Rebecca Blumhagen, E! Television’s Alicia Quarles, Showtime’s Homeland’s Amy Hargreaves, NBC’s Law and Order SVU’s Danny Pino, Metropolitan Opera Singer Alyson Cambridge, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire and NYC Mayoral Candidate Jack Hidary, Nicole Noonan – Divorce Expert, FOX – X Factor’s Denise Weeks, Canary Ventures Alex Goldberg and many more fabulous guests. Thanks to the generous support of the New York community and donors, the city of bright lights really shined and we were able to raise a grand total of $22,252! Proceeds collected at the Bark Breakfast will save 2 dogs from being euthanized and 2 Veteran with PTSD from New York to attend the 100% successful K9s For Warriors program. Veterans with PTSD – APPLY!
Special thanks must go out to the fabulous Omni Berkshire for donating their magnificent hotel in the center of New York and beautiful breakfast to honor our Veterans and Service Dogs. Many thanks to Ellen DeGeneres’ HALO, Purely For Pets for the special doggy buffet for all the dogs and especially the service dogs who happily dined on Spot’s Stew, a delectable doggie delicacy made from all-natural chicken, beef, salmon, or lamb and healthy whole grains, nutritional fruits and vegetables. No corn or rendered animal parts for our four-legged friends! All guests went home with doggy bags including rover.com dog-sit gift certificates, Burts Bees pet products, lara bars for the two legged in attendance and our very own Wendy’s new book How To Train Your Boss To Rollover.
The event could not have come together if it were not for the dedication of local New York entrepreneurs, small business owners and animal lovers. American Express Open sponsored the breakfast and knows the importance of empowering small business owners! Veterans whom make up over nine percent of the country’s small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Animal Fair / Wendy Diamond encourages everyone to adopt, foster and rescue until the Unites States becomes a “No-Kill” nation.
All proceeds from How To Train Your Boss To Roll Over will be used to bring awareness and donations to K9s For Warriors throughout the Bark Business Breakfast ten city tour benefiting Veterans with disabilities and PTSD.
Wendy Diamond and Animal Fair’s goal is to encourage people to donate $10, $20, $100, $500, $1,000, sponsor a Veteran as an Honorary Chair for $10,000, or whatever amount donors can afford. If only 100 people donate $100 per city, the objective will be reached in each city on the tour. K9s For Warriors is a transparent charity and 94% of every dollar will help a veteran with PTSD receive a service dog from K9s for Warriors. Shari Duval, Founder and Executive Director, of K9s For Warriors does not receive a salary.
Please join us for our next hoe down I mean benefit in Dallas, Texas on November 14 or you can join us in Philadelphia, San Diego, or Los Angeles! Veterans have fought selflessly for us, now it is time for us to fight for them! Donations and tickets are available here.
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