Neighbor News
Ocean County Nonprofit Video Goes Viral!
Video produced to tell story of therapy dog program based in Toms River has been viewed over 1 Million times.
A heartwarming video produced to tell the story of Ocean County’s home-visiting pet therapy program Caregiver Canines® has over 1,000,000 views and over 20,000 likes on Facebook. The video produced by PawCulture features local volunteers, residents and Toms River Caregiver Canines® Coordinator Danielle Maley. The video has been shared close to 7,000 times. Lovely comments range from “how can I volunteer for this, to I want these visits when I am older!”
Caregiver Canines® is a free service offered through Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey since 2009. Certified pet therapy dogs are matched with homebound Senior Citizens and those with dementia. Volunteers with their dogs visit once per week in the person’s home to bring great joy and decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation.
According to Lynette Whiteman, Executive Director of Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey, “the program was modeled after institution-based therapy dog programs. The concept was to bring the same happiness to homebound seniors as those who are visited in nursing homes and hospitals. Owning a dog can be expensive and many seniors are living on a fixed income or have their own medical issues. Our program fills this gap in dog lovers and caregivers.”
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The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the video proves how fortunate Ocean County residents are to have this program close by. To view the video, you can visit Caregiver Canines facebook page, or Caregiver Canines web site at: https://www.facebook.com/CaregiverCanines/videos/
If you know someone who might enjoy visits from a therapy dog or you would like to get involved with your dog, call Danielle at 732.505.2273, ext 202 or email info@caregivervolunteers.org.
