28: Ohio

Do you love dogs and are looking for a way to keep your donations close to Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan? Consider donating to Dogworks, Inc.
Dogworks is an all-volunteer, nonprofit group based in Toledo, OH, whose purpose is to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home abandoned, neglected, and unwanted dogs. After rescuing a dog, we provide medical, social, and emotional rehabilitation while each dog lives in a foster home. Once a dog is rehabilitated, we actively search for a family to be his forever home.

My name is Rachel Blanks and I’m a fourth-grade teacher in Dayton Public Schools. I’m writing today to ask for your support of an organization that is providing critical resources to schools, teachers and students. Crayons to Classrooms is a free teacher store serving teachers throughout the Miami Valley.

They meet as Comrades in Arms. Veterans and horses, both wounded by life, gather monthly in small groups in a Medina, OH barn to share and heal. Among them is John, 74, of Brunswick, a Vietnam Army vet whose days emptied with the death of his wife four years ago. On the barn’s hoof-packed dirt these encounters play out over and over as participants work to reckon with combat-related trauma-PTSD, anger, anxiety, substance abuse, relationship challenges and other issues.

Warren Gibbons,* a 68-year-old Army Veteran, cherished his relationship with Megan, a special child in his life. When Megan’s parents and grandmother could no longer care for her because of their substance abuse disorders, Mr. Gibbons readily stepped up to become a kinship caregiver. Although Mr. Gibbons was eager to take Megan in and was awarded legal custody, he lacked sufficient financial resources to provide for her.