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Featured Stories:

February 11, 2009

OTD at Volunteer Marketplace
Many happy shoppers at St. Laurent Plaza stopped to visit our OTD display and unexpectedly received on the spot “dog therapy”. The purpose of the volunteer fair was to advertise and promote local charities and our dogs (and OTD volunteer members) stole the show.

A team of 11 OTD handlers and their dogs rotated during the day on two-hour shifts. Our table was extremely busy, particularly at noon hour, and we talked to more than 250 people over the course of the day. People were very interested in OTD and the work we do. Our members handed out brochures, flyers and our new bookmark which was really popular with kids and their families. The OTD donation box collected over $50.

November 6, 2008

OTD Team Receives Award
Claire and Tobie walking back from receiving the Ontario Volunteer Service Award from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration for volunteering five years with OCAPDD. This therapy dog team provided animal-assisted therapy at the Loeb Centre.

Claire was named OTD’s Volunteer of the Year for 2008.

April 17, 2007

OTD 2007 Volunteer of the Year: Ann Lambert
Ann Lambert was honoured as the Volunteer of the Year for Ottawa Therapy Dogs at our Annual General Meeting, April 17, 2007.

Ann goes the extra mile every time she leaves her home to do therapy dog volunteering with one of her three OTD therapy dogs.

She has been visiting for many years and joined OTD in 2003. She visits at CHEO, Forest Hills Long Term Care in Kanata and is a member of the READ program. On many occasions she mentors new members, helps at Orientation doing grooming demos, is very active at Public Events to represent OTD whether at the Sportsman's Show, National Gallery, Libraries, and speaking at the faculty of Education to aspiring teachers about the benefits of the READ Program. She has even written two books for the children in her READ program to assist the children to become keen readers. Additionally she is now a member of the Evaluation team. She is always a cheerful and knowledgeable representative for OTD.

Unless she is busy with her grandchildren, whelping a litter of her Goldens in her kennel or attending to the special birth of her new passion, breeding horses!... seahorses that is, she is as accommodating as she can be to help OTD in all these myriad ways.

Congratulations to Ann with our profound gratitude for your many contributions, knowledge and expertise you share with OTD and the community in the National Capital region!

October 15, 2006

An inspirational tale of a young philanthropist … on a very special day!
In early September we received an e-mail from Brenda, a Mom   organizing a birthday party for her soon-to-be-8 year old daughter.  She informed us that her daughter, Chloe, loves animals and had    requested a special event for her birthday party – Reptiles Rock!   To celebrate this spectacular and educational birthday event,   Chloe wanted to share it with ALL her friends (= lots). Chloe's Mom  and Dad discussed this wish with Chloe, noting that ALL her   friends  could encompass a mountain of gifts that she would find   difficult to keep all to herself… They suggested that she could   have all her friends come over IF their birthday gifts could be   replaced  by donations to a charity. She agreed!!

Chloe and her Mom considered many different charities, but Chloe's love of animals (especially dogs) led the debate. Brenda reminded her about a newspaper article they had seen in the Ottawa Citizen earlier that spring where dogs were going into Ottawa schools to be read to by students. They did some research and found that Ottawa Therapy Dogs (OTD) were behind that program, as well as many other activities that help people around the Ottawa-Gatineau area. So Chloe chose OTD as her charity for donations from all her birthday party guests.

As stars are sometimes want to align, the family and occasion were located close to the recipient of OTD's Volunteer of the Year Award for 2005, our fundraising committee chair, Barbara White (Barb).

Barb made the primary contact and asked if an OTD team could come to the Birthday Party to say “Thank You”. The family agreed and Sharon and Caffrey; who visit the Perley-Rideau Veterans Health Centre, accompanied Barb to the party; Oct. 15, 2006.

What an experience! The partygoers embraced Caffrey; a huge, goofy, affable dog; noting in appreciation for his being a volunteer ‘worker'. The party-goers were also juggling attention with the Reptiles Rock exhibit encompassing some serious snakes, lizards and frogs. The Mammal-Reptile phyla came together for a remarkable photo shoot captured by Chloe's dad Phil and including Chloe's brother Craig. What an amazing array of grins for a birthday souvenir album!

This was a very special birthday experience for OTD as well as (I am sure) for the parents picking up their children!!! We hope that the smiles and memories will capture a new appreciation for Chloe's special event for OTD work in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. Likewise, OTD has received an invaluable boost to our volunteer efforts to bring a smile to hospital patients; long term care facilities; rehabilitation units and junior/senior grade schools; thanks to Chloe's enthusiasm.

Funds raised, thanks to this family's charitable spirit, are still incoming but will undoubtedly top $300. We salute the family and hope their spirit is embraced by others for volunteer organizations whose work is appreciated in our community.

In closing – Chloe's Mom made a notable follow-up observation: Her daughter, Chloe, has received 10 times more joy from:

(i) having Caffrey visit her party;

(ii) walks with Barb and her dog, Shadow; and

(iii) the positive OTD feedback,

than she would ever have received from the presents she could have been given for her birthday party!!!

News Archives:

Click here to visit our News Archives for stories from 2002 to 2006.

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