Their goal is to empower veterans to return to civilian life with dignity and independence.

Founded in 2011 by Shari Duval with the hopes of pairing 12 Warrior-Canine teams a year, the program has graduated over 290 Warrior/canine teams. 90% of the dogs in the program come from rescue shelters or are owner surrendered.

• There are 184 new cases of PTSD diagnosed every day from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 22 veterans commit suicide daily.
• There are over 3.5 million dogs that are euthanized in rescue shelters every year, many are wonderful dogs that can be trained to be service dogs for deserving veterans.

K9s For Warriors is dedicated to providing service canines to Warriors suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disability, traumatic brain injury, and/or military sexual trauma as a result of military service post-9/11.

“In 2003 my reserve unit was activated and we found ourselves on the front line for the invasion of Iraq. During the next several months we saw combat in southern Baghdad and the villages around Tikrit. Eventually our time overseas came to a close and we were sent home. At first everything was great and everyone was excited to see us. Overtime however many of us started struggling with issues that we had never experienced before. For me personally I wasn’t able to sleep and struggled with leaving my home. Every time I would drive around my community I was looking for enemy fighters hiding behind hedges and along rooftops. Eventually it got worse and I reported my problems to my unit. I was treated by the VA and eventually was able to go back to my civilian life as a Deputy Sheriff. Many of my fellow veterans weren’t as lucky and would struggle for years. I put together the 5K as a way to raise money and awareness for Veterans who are still struggling so they can go back to their lives before they served our country overseas. If we can help one combat veteran return to their family then it was a success.

Rich and Joanne recently moved to the Jacksonville area from Pennsylvania. Joanne worked for over forty years as a Radiologic Technologist and Rich was a civilian engineer for the Navy and the Lockheed Martin Corp. Both wanted to get involved with the community and found the K9 For Warriors organization through Andrew. It was a perfect fit in that both are avid dog lovers and it was an ideal cause to support in helping our veterans who have sacrificed so much for us. Both of their parents were members of the “Greatest Generation” where Joanne’s father was with the Army-Air Force in the European theater and Rich’s father was at the initial landing with the First Marine Division at Guadalcanal.

Joe has a deep vested interest in supporting veteran programs and specifically K9 for Warriors, as a retired Army Colonel having served the nation for over 26 years in multiple troop leadership roles, he has seen the stress that combat tours have on both the service member and their families. Additionally, his son and his son-in-law are both US Air Force A-10 fighter pilots, each have served multiple tours in the middle east over the last 15 years. After all that our Warriors have given the nation, supporting private foundation programs that in some small way make life better for a Wounded Warrior is a very worth-while endeavor.

Sarah is graphic designer who is excited about the K9s for Warriors organization. She finds the opportunity to support a charitable organization that inspires both her patriotic duty as well as her love of animals particularly special. She says, “I think it is just amazing what they do in saving canine rescues, but most of all in helping our country’s veterans. Their program is incredible!”

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$5,000

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