Loose Change Can Save Lives

Piggy banks are so old-school. What really deserves your loose change? Dog banks. At least until the end of June.

Confused? Don't be.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind has placed 14 life-sized Dog Donation Banks at various locations around our region.

Now, just as you might do in a "Where's Waldo?" scenario, you have to find these plastic pups. Your mission then? Put some change in one and, for maximum fun, take a picture of yourself with the dog and post it on Facebook. Actually, this is more than just a photo op. Every cent will go toward Guiding Eyes' "Dog Training Initiative," with canine candidates getting the training they need to help assist their future partners.

"Where's Waldo?" could never make you feel as good.

"'This Donation Dog Initiative' is our latest way to raise money to house and train our guide dogs for the blind. The price for training and housing is about $45,000 per dog," said Linda Deutsch, Vice-President for Marketing and Development at Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

"We are known for the health of our dogs, the serious training they get once they're selected to be guide dogs and then, the intensive training they and their human partners get here in Yorktown Heights. We train about 200 teams a year."

Those teams can often be seen going through the paces on the streets of Katonah, which, with its curbs, friendly shopkeepers and train station, provides ideal navigational cues and situations for the dogs and future owners to learn together.

Back to the banks.

Every nickel counts, says Ms. Deutsch.

"We know in these recessionary days that money is tight for everybody," she said."But any sort of loose change you can put in our dog banks will help. I can tell you from experience, that people feel really good when they know the money they give is being used to help a blind person. And if it's just in the form of change, it won't make too much of a dent in anyone's budget."

Guide Dogs for the Blind, which has been in operation since 1954, trains dogs, mostly Labrador Retrievers – with Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds mixed in – to assist blind people all across the United States.

It's a noble, if costly endeavor.

"When a person is selected to get a dog, we pay all their expenses," Ms Deutsch says."That means transportation here, housing the person for their month-long stay and dog-training. Also, if, when they return home, they are experiencing difficulties being a member of this new 'team', we pay for them to come back and work out the kinks. This is all part of our follow-up services," said Deutsch.

"We have 1200 volunteers, and we get donations from businesses and individuals, but this doesn't cover all our costs. This even includes certain toys, towels, bones and beds for our future guide dogs. They need special attention early on if they're going to do this important work."

So, that's where us civilians come in; by looking for and, more importantly, feeding these Dog Banks which dot the landscape from Mahopac to Manhattan, Stamford to Tarrytown. At the Walter Panas High School in Cortlandt Manor to Simply Bagels in Putnam Valley. Find a donation dog, put in some change.

And feel the good.

"In addition to raising money by slipping change in our dog banks," says Ms. Deutsch, "we've added a bit of incentive with our contest.We're hoping that change contributors will take a picture of themselves with these life-sized Donation Dogs and post the results on Facebook. It's for fun, but there is a nice payoff, too, for some lucky folks."

In this Spot The Dog Contest, which runs through June 30th, a selected winner will receive a gift basket valued at $250. Maybe more excitingly, they'll also win a private tour of Guiding Eyes for the Blind's headquarters, in Yorktown, "which will include meeting the future guide dogs who are training there," noted Deutsch. "Second and third prize winners will get all sorts of cool Guiding Eyes merchandise."

Ms. Deutsch says the projected goal of this spare-change drive is the $45,000 that will put a dog and a human together and pay for their training, their housing and transportation. However,  she has an equally symbolic goal for this socially-conscious sort of Easter egg hunt.

"We'd obviously be thrilled to raise that 45 grand, but we're pleased  to simply raise peoples' consciousness about what we're doing at Guiding Dogs. So, really, whatever the results, it will all have been worth it."

To enter the contest, you must go to the organization's site by way of your Facebook account.

Contestants may post one photo of themselves with the Donation Dog, and should note the location of where the photo was taken.

The contest runs until June 30th.

The winner will be notified on the Guiding Eyes For The Blind fanpage by July 30th.

Murphy's (355 Kear Street, Yorktown Heights)

Little Sorrento (3565 Crompond Road, Cortlandt Manor)

Walter Panas High School (300 Croton Avenue, Cortlandt Manor)

Kellogg and Lawrence Hardware (26 Parkway, Katonah)

White Plains City Center (Mamaroneck Avenue & Martine Avenue, White Plains)

Coffee Labs Roasters (7 Main Street, Tarrytown)

Whimsies Incognito (35 South Broadway, Tarrytown)

Simply Bagels (17 Peekskill Hollow Road, Putnam Valley)

Carmel Movieplex 8 (150 Route 52, Carmel)

Flory's Mobil (157 Bryant Pond Road, Mahopac)

Jumpin' Jeepers (926 Route 6, Mahopac)

Guiding Eyes for the Blind is located at 611 Granite Springs Road in Yorktown Heights, NY.

They can be reached at 914.245.4024 or by visiting www.guidingeyes.org