Service With St. Francis Service Dogs

About a week ago I attended a service trip that I really took interest in. This trip was to a place in Roanoke that worked with training service dog through the program, St. Francis Service Dogs. This organization’s motto is “helping people with disabilities to better experience the world through partnership with a service dog.” Me and about 10 other students ventured out to this facility early on a Saturday morning, not knowing what to expect or what we would be doing that day. I had heard that we were going to help set up for “Dogtoberfest”, which is a big event that really helps raise money and awareness of the organization. Little did I know that I would learn so much that day and also be touched at the heart by the man I met and his dog.

At the facility, because it was a Saturday morning, there was only one guy there, who ran the place, and the service dog he was taking care of. This man’s name was Ryan Read, a volunteer coordinator, and he was with his dog, Jojo. We we entered the area the dog and Ryan readily greeted us. They were so happy that we had come and they were ready to share all they knew with us! I also felt a bit of a personal connection to Jojo because she looked exactly like my dog at home, for real though. I even showed a picture of my dog, Mango, to Ryan and he thought it was a picture of Jojo!

The first thing we did when we got there was learn all about the organization, St. Francis Service Dogs, and about all that went into training a service dog. Ryan was so passionate about everything he shared with us. He is an incredible human person! Ryan does all his work for the dogs voluntarily, giving about 30 hours about the minimum requirements he has, and he get paid nothing for this! Some really cool notes that Ryan shared with us were that it takes about 2 years and $25,000 to train one service dog! The money aspect of this is very impressive because St. Francis Dogs is run solely on the generosity of private donations, grants, and fundraisers. The dogs are mostly labrador retrievers because that breed of dog is good at performing tasks, is smart (but not too smart), and is athletic (but doesn't have a crazy amount of energy). The dogs are training to perform up to 50 tasks to assist their partners. I found the task of responding to seizures particularly impressive, along with being able to do laundry. Service dogs make a profound difference in the lives of those they impact. “They crack the shell of isolation that can entrap a person with a disability and also provide comfort and companionship while improving their partners overall quality of life.” There a long process to go through to get a service dog, but the lifelong repercussions are life changing!

We helped by just being there and learning about the organization, both Jojo and Ryan loved it! But we also helped by packaging gift bags and building trash cans for “Dogtoberfest”. I can’t wait to follow up with this amazing service trip and get involved again! Thanks to the trip coordinators I can do this! I really hope that I can be more like Ryan and Jojo in my life. Ryan with his passion for service and caring for the dogs, and Jojo with her discipline and sharing kindness. As we were learning all about service dogs, Jojo would sit in her crate patiently and then once let out she would go around to each person in the room, spreading her love and comfort. I think all humans should strive to be more like a service dog.