How You Can Help Dogs Like #SAGApupVolt

The SA Guide-dog Association (SAGA) is a charity, and as such they rely on donations, sponsorships and other forms of fund raising including sponsored car competitions, a spring ball, a collar & tie club, debit orders, a Christmas campaign, direct mail appeals, the SAGA golf day, a SAGA family fun day, and more. You can even link your My School card to SAGA! They do not receive any government grants and the blind people who are partnered with these dogs are only charged a nominal fee in order to make the guide-dog service available to as many people as possible. The people who work for SAGA are also mostly volunteers so you can do that too!


There are different kinds of sponsorships available, and different kinds of donation options if you would like to look into them- like R500 to pay for a guide-dog's harness, collar, lead and medallion, or R3500 to cover the costs of rearing a puppy. Still stuck for ideas on how you could contribute? How about this - last year, a company in the Cape called Gulf, donated the money they were going to spend on a year end function to SAGA! Isn't that awesome! And in 2010 over 150 schools raised money for SAGA! 


Ten thousand rand is the full cost of sponsorship for a dog, from the pup's breeding to his or her retirement. As you can imagine this is only a fraction of the actual cost involved, but it is invaluable in keeping this service viable!


I am raising Volt, who is one quarter Golden Retriever and three quarters Labrador. Volt is super smart and totally lovable, and lucky enough to have his own sponsors! How cool is that!
Chris and Olga are Volt's benefactors (sponsors may remain anonymous of course). I don't know them, but they have kindly allowed me to use their first names so that I can thank them for making it possible for me and my family to raise Volt! As sponsors they are kept informed about Volt's progress by SAGA, and they will be invited to the graduation ceremony and to other SAGA events.
Its because of Chris and Olga's financial aid - for which they get mine and Volt's sincere thanks - that Volt will one day be an invaluable partner to someone who can't see.

click on the puppy to make a donation to SAGA

Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure!