Westfield golf benefit to help pay for service dogs for stricken veterans

WESTFIELD — The Western Massachusetts chapter of America’s VetDogs hopes to hit the $100,000 mark in money it has raised to give service dogs to U.S. veterans suffering from physical and mental disabilities.

When golfers tee off at Tekoa Country Club in Westfield on Oct. 17, they will be playing for more than the day’s low score. Organizers of the Salute to Soldiers event hope the tournament and dinner raise $25,000 to benefit the organization that breeds, raises, trains and places service dogs with veterans for free.

America’s Vet Dogs was founded in 2003 in Smithtown, N.Y., and has relied on families across the Northeast, like the Chamberlands of Agawam, to help prepare the puppies for their future lives and responsibilities.

“I got involved when I was in high school,” said Jack Chamberland, who chairs the local event.

“It was our job to familiarize the puppies with being out in public. We would take them to grocery stores and restaurants. They would have the opportunity to travel in cars or trains — just preparing them to be put into any type of situation,” he said.

Salute to Soldiers began as a night of music and dining seven years ago when it raised a fraction of this year’s goal.

“I was in college at the time, and I thought the $5,000 we raised was the best thing that could happen,” recalls Chamberland. A dinner-reception has been held annually since then and raised a total of $75 thousand through last year.

It costs VetDogs more than $50,000 to breed and place just one dog with a veteran, according to Chamberland. He said the group has placed 1,300 black, yellow, chocolate and golden retriever lab mixes along with shorthaired poodles in the last two decades.

“If you’re looking at a veteran who has a physical disability, the dog is trained to open doors and retrieve objects. When they go to the grocery store, they know how to hand cash and credit cards to a cashier. For veterans that have PTSD, the dogs know how to comfort them and (interrupt) their nightmares,” said Chamberland.

Registration for the golf tournament begins on Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. with a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. The entry fee is $150 per golfer; $500 per foursome, including dinner. Cost to attend only the dinner is $30.

For more information, visit asalutetosoldiers.com, call 413-726-8883 or email jack@asalutetosoldiers.com.

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