This has all been about community connections from the word go.
Stephanie Vannus and her therapy dog, Bruno, have been regular visitors to the school before COVID-19 prevented them attending. And yes, Bruno can’t wait to get back to visiting his friends at Rainbow Creek School!
However, due to COVID-19 restrictions our therapy dogs have been unable to make any of their regular visits and this included going into seniors’ homes.
CTDS Seniors Homes Co-ordinator (Lynn Giesler) contacted the homes with the idea of taking “stuffies” into the locations.
“The dogs would come in and they visit on a one-to-one basis with the residents in their room,” said Lynn (whose grandson is a student at Rainbow Creek School). Because of the COVID restrictions we have not been allowed to have the dogs visit the residents.
“We know how important it is to have the dogs visit the residents for the connection, so we thought the “Stuffies for Seniors” program would be a nice reminder of how often they are thought of and how the dogs are chomping at the bit to come back to visit again. A lot of our handlers have said as soon as the dogs see the CTDS bandanna they know exactly what they are doing and they get very excited about it.”
Of course, a plush stuffie is no substitute for the warmth and affection of a real canine friend but it is our hope that they will provide a little comfort to the residents.
Nathan Harris-Thompson, a teacher at Rainbow Creek School heard about this project and immediately said the school would like to support it with a fundraiser to help offset the cost of the stuffies going to seniors’ homes.
They held a draw at their school for the chance to win and name a big stuffie, with donations of over $600 going directly to CTDS through their webpage.
The winner of the draw, Jewel Heaven, picked a great name for their plush pup, “Scruffles”.
“This has been huge in helping us fund the “Stuffies for Seniors” initiative said Lynn. “CTDS has already taken 40 of the cute cuddlies to seniors’ homes within Rocky View, with more in the pipeline. We are so grateful to Rainbow Creek School for their support”.
Stephanie Vannus, a volunteer with CTDS and her therapy dog, Bruno, who joined us for the photo, have been volunteers at the school since before the Covid-19 restrictions were in place.
