One family will benefit from a massive Easter Egg hunt at the Plunkett Estate in London, Ont. Friday.
More than 100 people and their dogs were at the National Service Dogs (NSD) hunt which was back on for the first time in three years.
“We’re changing lives today,” says Danielle Forbes, the executive director and co-founder of NSD.
“This is our biggest signature event of the year. Every year we have Easter egg hunts going on across Canada, and along with this one in London, we also have people out in Kitchener and Guelph and will raise about $40,000 today.”
That money will go toward helping a family like the Foster’s get a service dog.
“Our son Andy, he’s 14 right now and he is diagnosed with autism,” says Alisa Foster, who took NSD ‘Trapper’ out for the egg hunt.
“Andy was fortunate to get presented with Trapper as his service dog when he was nine, so our thought is that now we have the opportunity to help raise funds and awareness for other families so they can experience what we’ve been able to experience” .
Andy is non-verbal and having Trapper by his side has given Alisa a sense of comfort knowing he’s safer.
“Andy tends to be a wanderer,” says Foster.
“You wouldn’t necessarily realize when he was walking – especially when we first got the dog – that suddenly it was a street, not a sidewalk, so when he has the dog and he’s connected to the dog, we’re able to cue the dog to actually stop and keep Andy safe. We’ve also seen the support when Andy’s feeling anxious. His confidence in him has been the biggest change that we’ve seen”.
The hunt has been taking place since 1998, and each egg has a dog treat, and potentially a prize. The humans can exchange what they find in the egg for gifts when the hunt is over.
The money raised from this event will cover the cost from the day the puppy is born, until the NSD withdraws.
“Each dog is valued at $40,000,” says Forbes.
“That’s all of their training, their breeding, and then eight years of support services for our clients because we continue to support our clients for the life of the dog”.
For those in attendance, it was key to see family’s like the Foster’s in action, and how much of a difference their fundraising can make.
“Five years ago before we had the dog, the idea of coming out to an Easter hunt like this absolutely completely overwhelming,” says Foster.
“Andy’s still a little stressed today but able to do it with his buddy by his side.”