Dear Friends & Family,

As some of you may know, our son, James, is smart, fun, and so loving and is also non-verbal autistic. With that, comes great trials and tribulations as he has several deficits. One of our largest difficulties with James is his "eloping" (bolting, running off, wandering). We have been working diligently with 4 Paws for Ability, to get James a Search & Rescue/Service Dog. But we need your help to raise 50% of the service fee. This service dog will be able to:

- Search & Rescue - Tracking - Similar to search and rescue skills used by the police and rescue groups.  The difference between 4 Paws dogs and a traditional search and rescue dog, is that our dogs are trained to only following the child's scent and do not need a scent article

- Tethering - The service dog wears a harness, and a secondary leash/tether strap is attached to the dog's harness as well as connected to the partner's belt/backpack/child harness/etc.  They act as an anchor for the child. This often helps a child feel more secure as well as prevents them from wandering or eloping because they are physically connected to their service dog who is performing a stationary command.

- Behavior Disruption - Deep Pressure/Over -The service dog will lay across their partner using their body weight to provide pressure with the goal that the partner will receive the sensory input and be calmed. Lap - The service dog will lay their head on their partner to provide a calming interaction and this is often one of the most common skills that are beneficial to the partner. Nuzzle -The service dog will come up to the partner and use their nose to bump an arm or hand to an opportunity to redirect and refocus.

We would love to be able to attend family gatherings, without one of us having to follow James, and watch his every move, and actually visit and be present. We would love to go to the grocery store without the heightened concern of James eloping. The amount of relief we could have from knowing James is comforted by his dog, and assisting with the sensory input/deep pressure would be monumental for James, and our day to day life. The impact, and sense of normalcy would be breathtaking.

The 50% service fee our family would be responsible for is $23,000 dollars. While we can't put a price on improving James and our families quality of life, it does come with a cost. As someone who has been a part of James' life we are hoping you will help us reach our goal of $23,000 dollars. When we are able to raise the money we will then be put on a two and a half year waiting list so the faster we reach our goal, the faster we are able to get James his service dog. Donations made for the service dog are unfortunately not a tax write off and we want to make you aware so everyone takes this into consideration before making a donation.

We thank you and love you all!

James Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser Details:

September 28th 

12 PM - 6 PM

Bess Chapel Methodist Church

6073 Flay Rd. Cherryville NC

We will have several raffle items, silent auctions, a bake sale and more!

Training a service dog to meet our child’s requirements can be very costly. On average it costs between $40,000-60,000 to raise, train, and place a service dog at 4 Paws for Ability. While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon. We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.