Largest private grant to-date, Lions Clubs International Foundation is supporting construction of the new Second Training Facility. The building is expected to be completed by Spring 2018.
CENTRAL POINT, OR; In May, Lions Clubs International Foundation awarded a $85,000 grant to support construction of Dogs for the Deaf’s (DFD) new Second Training Facility. “We’re ecstatic about this grant award and very appreciative of Lions Clubs International Foundation’s continued commitment to our important work and support of our critical growth,” stated President and CEO Blake Matray.
Dogs for the Deaf is in the midst of a major expansion, with groundbreaking on a new Second Training Facility taking place in November 2016 on the 18,000 sq. ft. 40-kennel building. The new Training Facility is expected to be completed in early 2018 and will further compliment DFD’s existing 22-kennel building.
“It’s exciting to see Lions Clubs across Oregon rally together to champion for this important expansion. We expect it will allow DFD to improve the lives of many more future clients,” noted Wes King, past District Governor, Lions Club, 36-E.
Once the Second Training Facility is operational, Dogs for the Deaf will triple the number of dogs that come to the organization, receive professional training, and ultimately get placed in forever homes across the United States. The additional kennels in the Second Training Facility will allow DFD to rescue more dogs annually. DFD’s three primary program areas include: Hearing Dogs, Program Assistance Dogs, and Autism Assistance Dogs.
Dogs for the Deaf is celebrating its 40th-anniversary in 2017, having assisted more than 1,400 dogs since 1978. The late Roy G. Kabat founded Dogs for the Deaf in southern Oregon’s Applegate valley, and it was not until 1989 that DFD moved to its current 40-acre campus in Central Point, OR.
Lions of Oregon & Northern California are a part of an international network of 1.4 million men and women in 200 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Lions are best known for working to end preventable blindness, the giving of eyeglasses and hearing aids for the needy and local service projects.
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Dogs for the Deaf is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focusing on the training and placing of Hearing Assistance Dogs, Program Assistance Dogs, and Autism Assistance Dogs. Dogs for the Deaf has been rescuing dogs from shelters and training them to become Hearing Dogs and Program Dogs with qualified clients throughout the United States for forty years. The Autism Assistance Dog program is just in its second year, though already showing terrific results with three dogs placed locally in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley. In fiscal year 2016-17, this national organization placed 23 Assistance Dogs across the country.
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