The Barstool Fund - Diggity Dogs Service Dogs
Up next: Diggity Dogs Service Dogs (Shelburne Falls, MA)
A 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, Diggity Dogs Service Dogs develops dogs' abilities to sense their guardian's mental, emotional, neurological and/or physical needs and respond in ways that enable clients to cope with and overcome challenges that they experience.
Reader Email
Dear Barstool Benefactors!
Our Massachusetts based nonprofit service dog organization provides medical alert, mobility and psychiatric service dogs to disabled children and adults and we have been STRUGGLING this year, like so many other businesses. Our expenses have increased dramatically due to the modifications we have had to make, yet our income has gone down, and I am hoping the Barstool Fund might help us make it through and keep our staff employed!
We have a partnership with the UMASS Amherst and Smith Colleges whereby our service dogs in training grow up on college campuses and the student fosters get credit for training them, yet with all of the changes that have taken place with schooling since the pandemic, we must now orchestrate individual zoom lessons with each foster, rather than running large classes. Another way this has impacted us it that we have dogs spread out across New England, as most of our students are not back on campuses. This means that instead of our long-time veterinary partners being able to easily care for our dogs on "dog health" days, we are forced to deal with dozens of different vets charging different rates than our veterinary partners offer.
Those are just few of the ways our costs have increased, but our income has also decreased. Annual fundraising initiatives have paled in comparison to previous years, if they have happened at all, and our enrollments have slowed as so many people are struggling themselves.
Our staff salaries are small compared to most, as most non-profit workers' are. Three of our team members were also part-time and unfortunately the little assistance the government provided as part of the stimulus package did not include assistance for business employees working less than full time, which was very frustrating.
We have had to cut back some of our staff and their hours already, but are at the point where we simply cannot function with any less people or less hours. In fact, to be fully functional, we need to increase our staff hours. We are also headed into what we affectionately call "
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puppy season", with three litters of puppies due, the students returning in January and the beginning of one of the busiest times of the year for us.
We would be so incredibly grateful if the Barstool Fund could contribute anything to help us stay afloat! We have clients enrolled that are expecting dogs as far out as 2024, so just shutting down is not an option for us no matter what! Our dogs save and change people's lives and they are so desperately needed by the clients we serve.
If you would like to learn more about what we do, you might enjoy watching a Ted Talk we did a few years ago. (That is a clickable link or you can use this URL: https://tinyurl.com/ycetse7g).
Thank you so much for all you are doing to help people get through these incredibly challenging times! I have attached some adorable service dog photos for you to enjoy. We look forward to your response!
Gratefully,Sarah L. Meikle
Executive Director