TYSONS, Va.– The PenFed Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PenFed Credit Union, said it has entered into a partnership with Canine Companions to help provide more service dogs to veterans and others with a disability.
According to the PenFed Foundation, the nationwide campaign is focused on recruiting more volunteer puppy raisers and encouraging more corporations to allow their employees to raise service dogs in the workplace.
Pilot, a 10-week-old yellow Labrador/Golden Retriever cross, is the face of the new initiative, and is being raised by PenFed Foundation President Andrea McCarren, her sixth future service dog in training, the Foundation stated.
‘Healing Power’
“I’ve witnessed firsthand the extraordinary healing power of service dogs,” McCarren said in a statement. “Service dogs save lives and there’s never been a greater demand. The PenFed Foundation felt compelled to partner with Canine Companions to address the urgent need for more volunteers to raise puppies and help shorten the wait time for those in need. We also want to highlight the transformative, positive impact on a workplace when an employee raises a service dog.”
Canine Companions is the nation’s premier service dog organization, according to the Foundation, and since its founding in 1975, it has placed more than 8,000 dogs. The organization provides the highly trained service dogs free of charge, but the current wait time to receive one of these dogs can be up to two years.
Introduced in 2018
PenFed Credit Union President and CEO James Schenck introduced the Canine Companions puppy raising program to his employees in 2018. Since then, he's supported his employees raising nine service dogs at PenFed financial centers across the country, according to the foundation.
“Having puppies with such a life changing mission in the workplace builds a culture of kindness and respect. It increases morale, lowers blood pressure and encourages employees to work from the office,” said Schenck. “It’s a wonderful way to give back to those who served and have employees work together to accomplish a meaningful goal.”
Trained One at a Time
The Foundation explained that service dogs can only be raised and trained one at a time, and their journey begins with dedicated volunteer puppy raisers.
“These volunteers play a crucial role socializing the pups from eight weeks of age until 18 months, when they return to Canine Companions for professional training,” it stated.
PenFed said Pilot’s journey can be followed on the PenFed Foundation’s social media channels.
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