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Lions Clubs International Foundation Presents Check For Second Training Facility

By November 21, 2017 April 16th, 2019 No Comments

Wes King (L), past District Governor, Lions Club 36-E, presented the check to Dogs for Better Lives’ (DBL) President and CEO Blake Matray.

CENTRAL POINT, OR; In May, Lions Clubs International Foundation awarded an $85,000 grant to support the construction of Dogs for Better Lives’ (formerly Dogs for the Deaf) new Second Training Facility. Today Wes King, past District Governor, Lions Club 36-E, presented the check to Dogs for Better Lives’ (DBL) President and CEO Blake Matray.

“We’re pleased to see Lions Clubs International Foundation support this critical project. It’s exciting to also see Lions Clubs across Oregon and California rally together to champion for this project. We expect it will allow DBL to improve the lives of many more future clients,” noted Wes King.

DBL is in the midst of major expansion with groundbreaking on a new Second Training Facility taking place in November 2016 on the 18,850 sq. ft. 40-kennel building. The new facility is expected to be completed in late Spring 2018 and will further complement DBL’s existing 22-kennel building.
“We’re ecstatic about this grant award and very appreciative of Lions Clubs International Foundation’s continued commitment to our important work and support of our critical growth,” stated Blake Matray.
Once the Second Training Facility is operational, DBL will triple the number of dogs that come to the organization, receive professional training, and ultimately get placed with qualifying clients across the United States. The additional kennels in the Second Training Facility will allow DBL to rescue more dogs annually. DBL’s three primary program areas include Hearing Dogs, Program Assistance Dogs, and Autism Assistance Dogs.
Dogs for Better Lives is celebrating its 40th-anniversary in 2017 and has assisted more than 1,300 dogs since 1977. The late Roy G. Kabat founded Dogs for Better Lives in southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley and in 1989 DBL moved to its current 40-acre campus in Central Point, OR.
Lions of Oregon & Northern California are a part of an international network of 1.4 million men and women in 200 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Lions are best known for working to end preventable blindness, the giving of eyeglasses and hearing aids for the needy and local service projects.
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Dogs for Better Lives is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focusing on the training and placing of Hearing Assistance Dogs, Program Assistance Dogs, and Autism Assistance Dogs. Accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and recognized by Charity Navigator as a 4-star nonprofit, Dogs for Better Lives has been rescuing dogs, bettering lives, and providing Assistance Dogs since 1977.
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