November 2004 - DOG PARK

     Their animal advocacy work soon took Rudy’s Kids out of the school environment into the surrounding community in an effort to help the general pet population. After severe flooding destroyed the dog park section of the Banner Elk Park in the fall of 2004, Rudy’s Kids saw an opportunity to reach out to the community to benefit all the dogs in the area. They decided they wanted to help rebuild the dog park!

     The mayor of Banner Elk agreed that Rudy’s Kids could appeal directly to the Town Council regarding a project. So Laura and other staff members gathered a delegation of twelve children, prepared them to give a presentation to the Town Council, and off they went!

     The Town Council thought there would be one or two people speaking, then quickly realized that all 12 of the children, including a child with a cleft palate and a severe speech impediment, had something they wished to say! The Council members listened patiently and very respectfully as the children told them all the reasons they should rebuild the park for the welfare of the community, the pet owners, and the pets. Rudy’s Kids then boldly offered to raise $300 toward the cost of rebuilding the dog park (having faith they would get it from "somewhere".) They also offered their labor to help with rebuilding. The children got a hearty round of applause from the Council and the "spectators" (others who had business to bring before the Council) and left as the Council members wished to discuss it without the children present.

     Hooray! The Town Council decided that they would rebuild the dog park! They also agreed to honor Rudy’s Kids request to work with the town employees in the rebuilding process. Further they agreed to use the children’s $300 for "toys" as one child put it - big tunnels, hurdles, etc. The council members were touched very deeply by Rudy’s Kids’ passion to make a difference in the community and their courage in making the presentations.

     The Banner Elk Town Council scheduled the work on the dog park for spring 2005, wanting to wait until the winter snows were past. So the children had some time to figure out how they would raise their $300 donation to the park. Miraculously, it came just a month later . . . a supporter donated Christmas Eve Dinner for the children at a local restaurant. During the event, another diner gave a staff member three $100 bills for the children! The donor was extremely impressed by how the children and the staff had handled the opportunity to speak before the town council.

     During Rudy’s Kids’ spring break, they joined Banner Elk town employees for a day and rebuilt the park. The town had projected two days for completion of the project - they got it done in one day! Also in attendance were: Rudy, Gabi, Milo, and a number of staff members for supervision and to act as “work assistants" for the children. The children worked hard (mostly the boys), but other groups of kids came down as well to see how the project was progressing and to walk the dogs on the walking trail.

     A group of Rudy’s Kids, Laura, and Rudy presented the Mayor with a check for $300. The rebuilding project was covered by the local newspaper that ran a story about it with a picture of the Mayor receiving the check!

Article from the Avery-Journal Times about the Kid’s donation for the park:

Grandfather Home Presents Check to Town of Banner Elk for Dog Park
By: Meg Wright

     On Friday, May 27, Deka Tate, Mayor of Banner Elk, was presented with a check from Grandfather Home for Children at the new dog park at Tate-Evans Park in Banner Elk.

     The children, who helped the town re-build the dog park that was destroyed by last year’s flood, raised $300 to donate to the town to furnish the park with dog toys.

     Laura Hickey, Treatment Coordinator at Grandfather Home, who brought her Great Danes to enjoy the newly constructed park, said, “The children did a great job.”
 

December 2004 - GASTONIA CHRISTMAS PARADE

     Rudy’s Kids had a great time Marching for MAGDRL and showing off all the Danes in their holiday attire! They were joined by Laura, Rudy, Gabi, a few staff members from Grandfather Home, several MAGDRL volunteers and their Danes. Everyone had a great time promoting Dane rescue and wowing the crowds with their gorgeous Danes!
 

March 2005

     During March of 2005 Rudy’s Kids took on the task of fostering and training four Great Dane puppies for MAGDRL, which included the process of caring for and working with the puppies. The Kids also helped to find adoptive homes for the pups by interviewing, and as a group, evaluating the prospective adoptive families. This is standard procedure for all MAGDRL foster homes.
 

From Laura: 4/2/05

“Michelle F., a MAGDRL foster Mom, and her family took on the arduous and delightful task of bottle feeding these four babies until they were five weeks old and then allowed us to begin fostering these pups. The pups spend most of their nights with one of our staff members who used to be a vet tech.

During the day, they are with groups of children who bathe them, play with them, and hold them like little babies while they sleep. It is a total delight, and a miracle for these children who are going to have these orphaned babies until they are 12 weeks old.

You would be so amazed at the sensitivity of the children. When they have the puppies and one of the older Danes is around, one of the children will make sure that the older dog gets plenty of pets and hugs . . . without a word from the staff. They really seem to be aware that the older dog may feel left out and they want to make sure that that dog also knows that he is treasured.”

Laura describes a typical day with the pups:

“The puppies have captured every heart . . . child and staff. Kelly brings them in each morning and soon I see a group of staff, each with a puppy all bundled up in a towel, walking to school where we have a crate set up for them. Occasionally, they make it to the crate, but only after they have fallen asleep in the arms of a child. One group of children has them in the morning and another group cares for them in the afternoon. When the pups change hands for the day, the morning crew "trains/updates" delegates from the next group so that the puppies transition with the latest information on them. This is such a great experience! Everyone checks the puppies out every morning, and they KNOW they have grown tremendously overnight. They are growing like dough rising as Dane pups do!”
 

Spring 2004 Organization of H.E.L.P.

     Inspired by their experiences and activities on behalf of MAGDRL’s rescued Great Danes, the children decided it was time to officially create an animal advocacy group all their own! With so many positive experiences under their belts, they set about choosing a name for the children’s rescue work. It was of the utmost importance for the name to reflect the sense of safety and empowerment the children have experienced with Rudy.

     The children submitted a list of names/acronyms as recommendations for their animal rescue program, and one special name really nearly made some of the GFH staff cry. Out of all the amazing names the children submitted, the acronym H.E.L.P. - Helping Every Little Paw was chosen as the name for the children’s work with rescued animals. ”Do you suppose fostering the Dane puppies had anything to do with that name???.”


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