Service dogs for veterans are $10,000 each.
And Humboldt residents want to help Saskatchewan veterans get them at the Paws for Veterans gala on Jun. 3 at the Humboldt’s Royal Canadian Legion.
Sherry Hogemann says there are five confirmed veterans in Saskatchewan that are ready to get their dogs. That is a total of $50,000.
“The more we can raise the better,” she says.
Hogemann’s own son is a veteran himself and she has met a lot of members of the military through him.
It is important to help them out, she says, both the younger and older veterans.
“These dogs are working for them, that’s what’s so important.”
Humboldt will see more of the Canadian military during the Wounded Warriors Weekend Run to Remember on Jul. 15.
The torch relay will run all the way from Regina to the Wounded Warriors Weekend camp in Nipawin for Jul.24 and will have members of the military, RCMP, firefighters, police officers, first responders, as well as sports personalities and Saskatchewan residents.
Blake Emmons, the founder of Wounded Warrior Weekend was at the gala to speak about his experience as a veteran and as an advocate for PTSD survivors.
Emmons mixed humour with sincerity as he spoke about the veterans he met starting the Wounded Warriors Weekend in Nipawin in 2012.
Veterans have come to the camp from all across Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.
According to statistics, in North America 22 veterans a day will take their own lives.
Multiple that by 365 and that is higher than the population of Humboldt, says Emmons.
One story Emmons told was of a veteran who had not left his house alone for four years.
He was the first Wounded Warrior Weekend recipient of a service dog and Emmons was very happy when he received a call from the man saying that he had taken his dog out for a run by himself.
Another story Emmons shared proved the friendships and networks made at Wounded Warriors Weekend.
After the weekend, attendees keep in touch, says Emmons.
“We watch out for each other and we form this network. I didn’t think we were going to do that but we do.”
Since Nov. 11, Emmons knows of about 7 people, and a possible 2 more, who have been saved by this network.
When one veteran noticed another veterans posts on Facebook, they called Emmons who in turn called other veterans in her hometown to check on her in Kingston, On.
Within four hours, someone then went over to her house were she was just about to attempt to take her own life.
“Because of that network, she was saved...and that’s just one,” says Emmons.
Later that year when Emmons was telling the story at a Wounded Warriors Weekend, the woman came up to him after to thank him for helping save her.
Hogemann says it was very important to have someone speaking from first hand experience about PTSD awareness.
Educating people on PTSD was a big part of getting people into the event, says Hogemann.
Money raised will stay in Saskatchewan to help Saskatchewan veterans.
The fundraising is not stopping at the gala. Anyone can still make a donation by visiting the Legion. The sixth annual Support Our Troops Golf Scramble on Jul. 25 at the Humboldt Golf Club will also be supporting Paws for Veterans by splitting their fundraising efforts between Central Saskatchewan Military Family Resource Center and Paws for Veterans.
