Sully may be gone, but the need for his help is not.

If you’ve followed this journey before with the Rally for Sully crowdfunder, you know Sully. He was a black Labrador Retriever, a NEADS World Class Service Dog, and so much more than that. For four years, he was my hands and legs in the world. He picked up what I dropped, retrieved my medications, pressed door buttons, and went everywhere I went: rabbinical school, hospitals, airports, grocery stores, the streets of Disneyland. He gave me independence, safety, and a kind of companionship that’s hard to put into words. He also spent his last chapter fighting kidney cancer with the same loyalty and joy he brought to everything else.   Sully died, and with him went a way of moving through the world that I had built my life around. His absence touches every part of my day.     I live with chronic illness, pain, and fatigue. A service dog isn’t a luxury for me. It’s how I get to fully participate in my own life. I’m raising $18,000 to bring my next service dog home by this fall, and I’d be so grateful for your help. Read on for the whole story, or donate now if you already know you’re in.

  Where things are now.

I had been approved for a successor dog through NEADS, the same extraordinary organization that trained Sully. They are wonderful, and I would have loved nothing more than to stay in their family. But NEADS is facing a significant shortage of service dogs, and the wait for a match is likely to be several years. In an act of real generosity, they encouraged me to say yes to another path so I can have a good service dog by my side this fall rather than waiting alone.

That path led me to Windy. He comes from PACES, the service dog training branch of Puzzles Labradors, in Southern NJ. It's a small, dedicated program that breeds and trains Labrador Retrievers specifically for service work, run by a trainer I’ve come to trust deeply. Windy is a calm, focused, retrieval-loving 18-month-old Lab who loves to learn and wants nothing more than to stay by your side. He'd be ready to come home with me this fall - in just a few months!

Over the summer, he’ll keep training, building his public access skills and learning the specific tasks I need, so that by the time he comes home this fall, he’ll already know me. I feel so grateful that this team, and this amazing dog, found their way to me.

A fully-trained private service dog costs between $15,000 and $30,000. Windy’s placement fee is approximately $17,000.

What your donation covers.

There is also about $5,000 remaining from Sully’s nephrectomy surgery last year. Any funds raised will go toward that balance first, then toward Windy’s placement. I’m taking on extra work this summer to contribute a good chunk myself, but $17,000 by fall is not something I can do alone. Every dollar goes directly toward getting a service dog back by my side.

How this fundraiser works.

Friends and local businesses have come together to offer real goods and services as thank-you rewards at different donation levels. For example, if you donate $150 or more, you might choose a haircut with Dominique as your reward. As one friend put it, “I already will need a haircut and I’d already wanted to donate, so this lets me do both at once to make my donation go further.” Your generosity gets you something back, and it all goes toward Windy coming home.

Rewards are limited, so if you see something you want, grab it before someone else does. And please share on social media and to your favorite, generous friends. New perks will be added throughout the summer, so check back often. You just might find a reason to give again. 

That’s the kind of community that showed up for Sully. It’s showing up again now, and I’m so grateful.

A note to everyone who gave to our last fundraiser.

I was moved beyond words by how many people showed up for Sully: people who know me well, people I know only a little, and people from so many corners of my life and communities. So many of you gave more than once. What you made possible was extraordinary: six months of the best cancer care team I could have asked for, treatments that helped him feel as good as possible for as long as possible, and the gift of Sully continuing to help me right up until he couldn’t. I cannot measure what those six months were worth to me. You gave us a fighting chance, and we took it together.

I’ll be honest: I felt awkward about coming back and asking again, after how generous everyone had just been. But the people who love me kept nudging me to put this out there. They told me that the stories I shared in the last campaign helped them understand, really understand, what Sully meant to my life and how hard life is without him. They know that in the middle of grief and the unraveling that comes with it, I need a helper more than ever. And they told me that whether someone wants to champion well-trained service dogs, honor Sully’s memory, or simply support me as a friend, they would want the chance to keep showing up.

So here I am. And here you are. I could not be more grateful.

If you’re new here: welcome. I’m so glad you found us.

Sully may be gone, but the need is not. And I’m still rallying.