Last week, The Sled Dog Fund made a $1000 donation to Nicole Reiser and her family to aid in the purchase of a diabetec service dog. Nicole has High Functioning Autism, Type 1 Diabetes, and Celiac. Nicole was recently approved for a service dog trained by Adobe Kennels in Texas.

The Reiser family has an account set up for companies and individuals wishing to further help with the fund raising effort. Donations can be made at any Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union. Acct # 107933 – S25. Checks must be made out to Nicole Reiser.

In November, Anchorage SDF volunteer Meg Smith presented a $500 donation check to Melissa Ghosh of Service Dogs of Alaska. The Sled Dog Fund supports the efforts Service Dogs of Alaska to provide service dogs to special needs children here in Alaska.
To view a photo of the presentation, follow this link to the Sled Dog Fund's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Sled-Dog-Fund/270829990354

You can now follow The Sled Dog Fund on our new Facebook page! Go to this link to view our page and become a fan.
http://www.facebook.com/board.php?status=256&uid=270829990354#/pages/Sle...

If your family is about to start the fund raising process for a service dog, please contact The Sled Dog Fund. Last year, we assisted a Fairbanks family with a financial donation to help obtain a service dog for their special child and we're looking to make similiar donations to other families.
The SDF is currently working with another Fairbanks area family and we still expect to have additional funds available after helping them. You need not live in Alaska to receive help from our organization. Contact The Sled Dog Fund by email at info@sleddogfund.org.

The Sled Dog Fund recently donated $250 to help send a young Anchorage girl named Taylor to a youth camp for amputees. Amputee Youth Camp is held annually in Tennessee by the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA). The camp allows children who are amputees to participate in activities such as tennis, swimming, boating and fishing. While there, the children also forge friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime.

The SDF wholeheartedly supports this inspirational program and wishes ACA continued success with the Amputee Youth Camps.

Now that the 2008-9 mushing season is over, The Mush to Donate Program results are in. 18 mushers participated and they raised a combined total of $800. Musher Brendan Wolff brought in the highest dollar amount of donations with $680.

Thank you from The Sled Dog Fund to all the participating mushers and their sponsors.

The 2009 "Tails From the Trail" chairity banquet and silent auction held on Friday, April 24th, raised just over $3000 for the support of special needs children. Guest speakers Vern Halter, Jodi Bailey and Mike McCowan were a big hit and the silent auction received excellent participation. Thank you from the Sled Dog Fund to our speakers and to all those who attended this fun evening.

The Two Rivers Dog Musher's Association recently made a donation to the Mush to Donate Program at their 2009 Valley Funale races. At sign up, mushers were given the opportunity to participate in the Mush to Donate Program. A small portion of each participating musher's entry fee was then donated by TRDMA to the MTD Program. Sixteen mushers signed up for the program and raised money for special needs children while they raced. The Sled Dog Fund thanks those mushers and TRDMA for their support of the Mush to Donate Program.

In late February 2009, The Sled Dog Fund, Inc. donated $500 to The Children's Hospital at Providence in Anchorage, Alaska. The Sled Dog Fund supports the outstanding work done by Child Life Specialists and the Special Needs Clinic at the hospital.

In December, The Sled Dog Fund donated $500 to Cytomegalovirus research at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.
Since it's inception, one of the goals of The Sled Dog Fund was to make donations to help fight the root causes of diabilities in children. With that goal in mind, the Sled Dog Fund board of directors selected the CMV research program at the University of Minnesota to receive a donation.

The Sled Dog Fund's Executive Director, Blake Matray, is currently training his dog team to run in the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race which starts on March 7th. Blake's goal is to reach Nome with sixteen healthy dogs. Along the way, he also hopes to raise awareness for special needs children and he expects that his participation in the Iditarod will heighten interest in The Sled Dog Fund's charitable activities.

To visit the website for Blake's team go to http://teambdo.homestead.com

Kylie Haas and Millie the service dog, who we helped purchase were on the front page of the online News Miner today. The link to the story is below: http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/oct/26/service-dog-changes-life-fairbanks-girl-autism/

In late October, Sled Dog Fund volunteer Amy Schwalber and her sled dog Copper presented a check for $500 from The Sled Dog Fund to The Stone Soup Group in Anchorage, Alaska.
The Stone Soup Group is a non-profit organization that provides services to special needs children and their families in Alaska. Their Parent Navigation Program links experienced parents of special needs children with parents of recently diagnosed special children. Other Stone Soup Group programs include the Short Term Assistance and Referral Program (STAR), the Positive Behavioral Support Program and the Autism Family Support Center.

For further information on Stone Soup Group programs, visit their website at www.stonesoupgroup.org

In May 2008, Sled Dog Fund Executive Director Blake Matray and Vice President Deb Lanigan presented a check for $500 to Ms. Laura Corn, Educator Supervisor for the Alaska Center for Children and Adults in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Alaska Center for Children and Adults provides speech therapy and a variety of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities. ACCA's Project TEACH is the lead agency responsible in Fairbanks for the State of Alaska's Early Intervention Program.

To learn more about ACCA, visit their website at www.acca-ilp.org

The SDF is pleased to welcome the following corporate sponsors: North Pole Veterinary Hospital, Cold Spot Feeds and Taiga Mushing Supplies.

Thank You For Your Support!

On May 29, 2007, The Sled Dog Fund, Inc. acquired Tax Exemption status from the IRS.