Loyal Pets for Vets/American Legion Auxiliary Unit 697

07/15/2024

Thank you to everyone who came out and played bunco yesterday! We had a great time rolling dice and raising money to get a service dog for a veteran. It was a wonderful surprise to have K9s for veterans come and give us personal testimony of how service dogs impact the lives of veterans.

07/13/2024

Bunco is tomorrow! 100% of the funds raised goes directly to getting a service dog for a veteran! Come on out , have some fun, and save two lives!!

06/02/2024

05/19/2024

Caleb Williams jersey. $5 per chance. ALL proceeds going to fund a service dog for a veteran. Please see bartender at American Legion in Lansing.

05/03/2024

Come on up to the Legion after the Good Neighbor Day parade tomorrow. We will have a prize wheel set up - $1.00 a spin. Lots of good prizes. All funds raised will go directly towards getting a veteran a service dog!

04/24/2024

We have some people/organizations to thank for starting this mission out.

First, thank you to the Lansing Copper Muggers for their generous donation towards the service dog. You all were the first ones on board and we appreciate all you do for our Village.

Next, we would like to thank David Coglianese for donating the Blackhawk and White Sox jerseys that we were able to raffle off, with all funds going towards the service dog.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to St. John Lutheran Church for their donation towards the service dog. St. John had a Spring dinner/auction and they generously donated part of their blessings to our mission.

We would like to thank Bert Gangolf for making an apple pie that was tipped off at the Legion on Sunday. All funds raised from Bert's apple pie are going directly to the service dog.

We have begun preparing for our three major fundraisers to meet our goal of fully funding a service dog. The first of these fundraisers is a t-shirt initiative. We are looking for sponsors for this initiative. Sons of the American Legion Squadron 697 is our very first Super Sponsor. Thank you so much for being a part of this! We truly appreciate your support!

She second fundraiser will be our Very Special Bunco which will be held on July 14, 2024. Tickets are $20 each. Presale tickets for this event are available now.

Our final fundraiser is a pasta dinner which will be held on Saturday, September 21st. More information will be coming.

04/09/2024

04/08/2024

Congratulations to Heather Young on winning the Frank Thomas Jersey. As a reminder, all posts you see on this page are for the Auxiliary fundraising efforts to fully fund a service dog for a veteran with PTSD.

04/07/2024

This Frank Thomas jersey is being raffled off at the Legion right now! This jersey was donated by a supporter of Loyal Pets for Vets and 100% of the proceeds will go towards funding a service dog for a veteran. Chances are $5 each, only 50 chances sold. Chances are available at the American Legion Post 697, 18255 Grant Street, Lansing, Illinois. See the bartender for your chance!

04/07/2024

Edward Schultz Auxiliary is on a mission! We are working on fundraising initiatives to get a service dog for a veteran. We are working with K9s for Veterans, an organization run out of Plainfield, Illinois (with training centers in Chicago and Joliet) to get a service dog for a veteran with PTSD to help them transition back to civilian life. The mission statement of K9s for Veterans can be found on their website, https://www.k9sforveteransnfp.org/index.html, but in pertinent part states:

K9s for Veterans mission is to help veterans with post traumatic stress disorder transition back to civilian life once their military service has ended with the help of trained service dogs. We are committed to educating the public about the plight of veterans with PTSD and streamlining the process for them to get service dogs, so they get the help they need... Before it’s too late.

K9 provides free food and basic medical care for the life of the service dog. The lifesaving efforts of K9s for Veterans are doubled by the exclusive use of rescue dogs from kill shelters to train as service dogs for our veterans. This approach truly epitomizes the question of “who rescued who”. Our duty is to be honest and thoughtful stewards of the funds our donors entrust us with so we can maximize their generosity and the number of veterans that benefit from it. Together, we can make a difference for these struggling heroes and the dogs who devote their lives to them.

Auxiliary members are excited about fully sponsoring a service dog for a member, but we cannot do it without the help of our community. The total cost of getting a service dog for a veteran is $7,500.00. This price includes a fully trained dog PLUS lifetime food and veterinary care for the dog. We have several fundraising initiatives we are going to deploy to reach this goal.

Please keep your eye on the events that will be created on this page. We are working on fun and exciting ways to involve our community and supporters in reaching this goal!

We truly appreciate your help in supporting a veteran and a dog in their time of need!