LIFESTYLE COLUMN: DOG BLESS USA

More Than Just Man’s Best Friend, Dogs Can Be a Soldier’s Best Medicine

By: Bridget Voeck

June 13, 2011

Explore is an organization that uses print, film, and the Internet to showcase leaders around the world making a difference in their community. Individuals and organizations featured in many of their films also receive funding through Annenberg grants to continue their worthy efforts. Explore has awarded over $15 million to over 100 non-profit organizations worldwide. 

Explore presents the Dog Bless USA challenge a grant to pair Iraq war veterans with the companionship and therapy of a service dog.

Dog Bless USA is a challenge grant aiming to provide up to 100 service and companion canines to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This challenge, presented by philanthropic multimedia project Explore along with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), invite Facebook users to “Like” the Dog Bless USA page and share it with their friends. For every 5,000 “Likes” the page receives, Explore will match a recent war veteran returning home with a service dog. These dogs promote therapeutic companionship, helping some with PSTD to cope with the emotional obstacles of returning from war.

This challenge not only calls upon social networkers to participate in a zero-cost-to-them way to support the troops, but Dog Bless USA also spotlights the extraordinary work these canines are capable of. A message to participants from Explore’s founder, Charlie Annenberg, states that dogs “see our souls like no other. As we build Dog Bless You, its mission should be to champion the selfless acts of animals.” Through the efforts of Explore and IAVA, some very lucky troops will add a four-legged friend to their support system as they begin their transition back into everyday life.

Please join Buzzine as we lend a hand to these humble heroes with wagging tails and the organizations that have made them more accessible to those in need. Here’s how you can help Dog Bless USA support our troops in two easy steps:

1. “Like” Dog Bless USA on Facebook.

2. Share this link on your Facebook wall, and ask your Facebook friends and family to do the same.