Summit Assistance Dogs’ 2021 Unleash Your Love Virtual Giving Event

Numotion Foundation’s sponsorship of Summit Assistance Dogs’ 2021 Unleash Your Love Virtual Giving Event helped fuel a successful program that raised $200,000 to create more life-changing service dog partnerships in the Pacific Northwest!

Summit is a nonprofit organization that trains highly skilled dogs to assist people with disabilities that significantly affect their mobility, such as a spinal cord injury, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. By assisting with tasks such as retrieving items, opening and closing doors, turning switches on and off, and tugging off clothing, Summit dogs help their partners live with greater independence and confidence. More importantly, these dogs often help diminish depression, anxiety, and loneliness by providing unconditional love and companionship.

While it takes two full years of training and thousands of dollars to successfully train and place each service dog, Summit is committed to providing dogs free of charge to their clients, as many of them are already challenged with high health care costs and sometimes loss of employment. Summit is able to make these placements at no cost to clients thanks to the generous support of individuals, corporate, and foundation donors.  

Every one of Summit’s clients speaks of the life-changing aspects of being partnered with a service dog. For some, it signals the end of social isolation as they develop greater confidence in going out in the community. For others, it offers the ability to return to work or to live independently.

Summit client Melissa recently shared how her partnership with service dog Tanner has allowed her to work and be active in the community. “My service dog Tanner takes care of dozens of tasks that save me energy that I can then apply to my work. He assists me carrying items, supporting me during transfers, helping me on and off with clothes, opening and closing doors, and retrieving items. Without him, I spent so much time and energy just trying to do the small stuff like getting out of bed and dressing and getting out the door, that by the time I got to work I was already exhausted. He makes it possible for me to work and be independent.”

Visit www.summitdogs.org to learn more about Summit Assistance Dogs.