Tim Crosby, the strategic partnerships manager for K9s For Warriors, told local Chamber of Commerce members at a luncheon last week that the organization plans on opening five new campuses throughout the United States over the next seven years.
"We're building staff, we're building systems and we're growing out infrastructure to reflect our nationwide footprint," he said. "The seven-year plan is to have five new campuses around the country; they're going to probably be targeted initially to those areas where there are military veterans, dogs and donors, and that's probably going to be Texas and the West Coast."
Crosby delivered these comments to members of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce Ponte Vedra Beach Division and JAX Chamber of Commerce Beaches Division on Thursday, April 12 at Sawgrass Country Club. He added that the nonprofit will continue to grow while remaining – at its core – a grassroots organization.
"We're still going to be a grassroots organization with 90 percent of our gifts coming from folks like you and me," he said. "The scope of the problem is vast and it's real and we need to have as many people working on it as we can."
Additionally, Crosby played a video package featuring a testimony on how the K9s For Warriors program can change the lives of veterans in need. The K9s manager asserted that the organization not only saves lives, but points struggling veterans in the right direction by pairing them with trained canine companions.
Crosby ended his presentation by thanking attendees and commending the Ponte Vedra Beach community.
K9s for Warriors is the nation’s largest provider of service dogs for American veterans with post-traumatic stress (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and/or military sexual trauma (MST), as well as a member of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce. The organization has rescued dogs from Florida, Georgia, Texas, California, the Carolinas and more.
For more information on the nonprofit, visit www.k9sforwarriors.org.
