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Volunteer Opportunities Abound at Guiding Eyes for the Blind
 | | The Warman Children: Libby, 13, Daniel 8 & Patrick 11, with some Guiding Eyes puppies that they socialized at home |
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If you are a dog lover seeking ways to give back during National Volunteer Week (April 29-May 3) and beyond - look no further. Heartwarming programs are waiting for you with open arms - and big, happy paws - at Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
Guiding Eyes (www.volunteer.guidingeyes.org), a New York-based non-profit organization and one of the leading guide dog schools in the world, relies on volunteers from across the Eastern Seaboard to help dramatically change the lives of visually impaired people. Individuals, couples and families can participate in a variety of programs that help prepare the organization's cream-of-thecrop dogs for a very special career.
"For more than 50 years, Guiding Eyes has offered some of the most fun, joyful and rewarding volunteer programs in the country,"said Vikki Iwanicki, Manager of Volunteer Services. "But we're always in need of help, and we'd love to add more volunteers to our roster this year during National Volunteer Week."
For some, volunteering with Guiding Eyes is a life-long activity that passes from one generation to the next. Sharon Warman of Poughkeepsie, volunteered as a Puppy Raiser with her family years ago, when she and her brothers got involved through 4-H. Puppy Raisers take young dogs into their homes for 14-16 months to help them learn manners and be socialized into numerous environments. Warman's family raised three Guiding Eyes dogs. "To see the end result - a graduating dog guiding a person without sight - is just amazing," Warman said. "It's so rewarding to see that the dog you worked so hard with is really able to enrich somebody's life. Years later, when my husband and I started a family, I always said that I really would love to do this," Warman continued. "I thought we'd be Puppy Raisers, but I wanted the kids to be older. Then I learned through a colleague that Guiding Eyes has a Home Socialization program now. That was all we needed to hear."
Warman has a 13-year-old daughter, and two sons, eight and 11. Home Socializers take in young puppies for brief periods to care for them in a home environment, making the program a great opportunity for families. "Home Socialization seemed like a perfect fit because we wanted perpetual puppies. It's a really great program - the kids are always saying to me, 'Mom when are we going to get more puppies?' We've also spread the word and gotten other families involved." Now Warman's family is training to take part in another Guiding Eyes opportunity, the Brood Stud Foster program. She is thrilled that through all of these programs, her kids have learned about responsibility and the volunteer ethic. "This has been a great opportunity for us," she said.
Other volunteer programs at Guiding Eyes include:
-The Puppy Raising Program, which enables individuals, couples and families to raise specially-bred puppies in a loving home environment for 14-16 months. Volunteers teach the young dogs house manners and socialize them in numerous situations. The puppies are then returned to Guiding Eyes to be trained as guide dogs.
-The Brood & Stud Program, in which families foster special, "cream-of-the-crop" Guiding Eyes dogs for a lifetime, returning them to the organization periodically for breeding.
-Home Litter Care, which enables volunteers to enrich the early experiences of Guiding Eyes' youngest puppies by caring for a mother dog (brood) and her pups in the comfort of their own home.
Learn more at http:// volunteer.guidingeyes.org, or call the Canine Development Center at 1-866-GEB-LABS.
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