Stories

Graham Bloem the founder of Shelter to Soldier will be speaking about the work of the charity.  This is a CA 501c3 nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from an otherwise uncertain future in local shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-9/11 combat veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or other injuries associated with traumatic service experiences. Every day, 22 US veterans and 1 active duty service member are lost to suicide. That’s an average of one life lost every 63 minutes. The suicide rate among the nation’s military personnel has spiked this year, eclipsing the number of troops dying in battle and on pace to set a record annual high since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more than a decade ago. The links below are for an impact report, a video and the last link is to a page showing the body parts and how you can donate.

 http://www.sheltertosoldier.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Final-Web-Optimized-Impact-Report.pdf

At the meeting Rob Ridge and Mark Matthews will be selling “ dog body parts” to create a complete dog. The objective is to raise  $12,000 to donate a dog for a veteran, for which there is a desperate need in this area that has so many returning military personnel.                 

The Bill Kalt Scholarship was started in the Mission Valley Rotary club and has carried over to La Mesa. Each fall the committee selects 2 incoming freshman at Patrick Henry High School to participate in the Bill Kalt Scholarship program.  They must sign a commitment letter about their grades and behavior for the next 4 years. They must meet with the committee four times a school year.  Upon graduation they are presented with a $2,000 scholarship.  This year Bonnie was able to award these awards to 2 very deserving seniors:  Chanti Butler & Tony Lam.  Congratulations!