April 2008
Hi all - We have wonderful news!
The Girl Scouts of Essex Junction and Williston, Vermont, have been working tirelessly to sponsor their dog Champlain < read
more >, but that isn’t enough for these now 5th Graders…they’ve also raised some $4,000 toward their goal of $6,000 to help Anita in Slovenia get a new prosthetic leg!
They've also pulled 3 other schools into the fray to help Bosnia!
These Girl Scouts ROCK Vermont!!!
If you haven't already heard about our new "CHAMPS International" program then please visit the new section in our website < here >.
Kimberly
March 2008
Hi all - CHAMPS is flying!!
the
Vermont Campaign- Girl Scouts have raised a whopping $15,000 and
the last $5,000 came from Joan Wismer, our CHAMPS Patron, which
means their dog Champlain has been funded! And guess what??? the
girls have decided to take their campaign one step further and
have joined CHAMPS International!!
< read
more >
the KIDS at the West Middle School (from
the Denver Campaign) have been asked to participate in the State’s Service
Learning Conference on May 1st… and
they’ve been asked to do a 90-minute workshop on their
CHAMPS Campaign! Looks like “Utsi” will be
attending too!
CHAMPS International has two victim’s going
to Slovenia on Tuesday for a new prosthetic leg and evaluation
for surgery….Life Is Good!
Kimberly
February 2008
Hi all - Just wanted to send you to a really exciting campaign in Colorado Springs. They have lots of great fundraising activity ideas, including an "ugliest legs" contest! These kids are actually also writing four different books about CHAMPS dogs! Please go check it out and get inspired... I know I am!
< click to go to the Colorado Springs Campaign >
Kimberly
January 2008
Happy New Year! Here's a new video I'd like to pass along
< click here to
check it out > It is a mine
sniffing dog with his handler clearing land... Stay tuned for more exciting
news coming up in February!
-Kimberly
DECEMBER 2007
CHAMPSkids.org is featured on the About.com website in an
article called, "Make Giving to Charity a Family Affair at the Holidays."
I hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday Season!
NOVEMBER 2007
Dear Friends of CHAMPS,
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!
I’ve some exciting news…It is with a great amount of pride that I share with all of you that the 14th CHAMPS Dog has been funded just this last week!! The CHAMPS – Vermont – Girl Scouts Campaign, a group of 20 little 4th and 5th grade girls and two very energetic and enthusiastic Troop Leaders, launched their campaign officially just this last April.
These determined ladies had to get approval from the Vermont Girl Scout Council and began planning, and then working with Rotary Clubs, Historical Societies, Lions Clubs, and many other community organizations to make this Vermont dog a true Community Dog. The group decided to name their dog Champlain and while we’re not sure when he/she will begin training, we know it will be very soon. The CHAMPS Dog Vermont is in training now in Bosnia and I hope to get pictures of him/her while I’m there this next week…and pictures of Tornado, Stitch, and Shadow, all CHAMPS Dogs as well and in training with Vermont!
I also wanted to let all of you know that the Girl Scouts raised the first $15,000 and our CHAMPS Patron, Mrs. Joan Wismer, gave them their final $5,000 making their campaign a huge success. You’ll all remember that Joan has helped the Campaigns that sponsored Granite, Arizona, and South Hadley be successful too by helping them finish their campaigns!
Many of you have already been sending Joan little notes or cards. Just in case some of you don’t have her address it’s:
Joan Wismer
12400 Magnolia Blvd.
Valley Village, CA 91607
The Girl Scouts are still planning several more CHAMPS Fundraisers this school year to support a mine victim in the CHAMPS International Program!
Please join me in congratulating Jennifer Mignano, whose daughter Maria brought CHAMPS to the Williston and Essex Junction Girl Scout Troops!!!
Jennifer’s e-mail is: jenn.mig@verizon.net
Again, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Take care and I’ll be in touch soon with more exciting CHAMPS News!!
Warmest,
Kimberly
AUGUST 2007
Lots of activity this summer and now that the school year has just
begun we will be cruisin! Inspired yet? Why not go to the
campaigns page and
see if your state is running a CHAMPS campaign. You could be a
pioneer!!
click to go to
the campaigns page
As for the latest... here's just a sampling of what's been going on with all of the many CHAMPS campaigns...
1. Many new
pics have been added to the Vermont photo gallery, so please
go check em out, get inspired and keep cool!!!~~ CLICK
TO GO
AUGUST 2007
Girl power
in Vermont! ---
CHAMPS Vermont - Girl Scouts Campaign Update:
Hey everyone - The Girl Scouts of Williston and Essex Junction have been busy and have already raised an incredible $8,100 since their Campaign began in April!!
With the strong leadership of both Jennifer Mignano (Troop Leader for Williston), and Chandelle Trahan (Troop Leader for Essex Junction) the kids have been up to some really cool stuff.
CHAMPS Director Kimberly McCasland, CHAMPS Assistant Rachel McCasland
and Utsi have just returned from a 5-day trip to beautiful Vermont
to help with a Car/Dog Wash and to participate in 3 days of AKC
Dog Shows that were held in Essex Junction.
Both events were a huge success with the troops raising over $1,100
over the long weekend.
Here's a list of some of the community organizations that have been working with them, making this dog they plan to name Champlain a real "community dog"!
1. PEACE AND JUSTICE CENTER - Pot Luck dinner last October, and
will be doing a fundraiser at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company this
coming November.
2. WILLISTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY - Gave proceeds of annual Ice Cream
Social to their campaign, totaled $1,000.
3. WILLISTON ROTARY CLUB - Heard CHAMPS Director's presentation
and gave $300 to kick the campaign off.
4. VFW - Essex Junction, will hold a cookout with silent auction
on September 21 and a bingo night before Christmas.
5. LIONS CLUBS - $1,00 donation to start, and plan on on-going
fundraising support.
6. LAKE CHAMPLAIN MARITIME FESTIVAL - Donating table at festival
for 3 days and helping with silent auction.
7. ESSEX JUNCTION FIREHOUSE - Running two car/dog washes for them.
8. LOCAL SCHOOLS and the PTO GROUPS.
And, while I'm inclined to say "GIRL POWER!!!" I have to tell you that the Dad's and brothers, Uncles and Grandfathers of the girls are all pitching in. This is an wonderful example of how everyone is taking ownership of this Campaign to help sponsor their dog Champlain.
The plan is to have their dog sponsored by Christmas!!
JULY 2007
1 PIONEER in New Jersey! ---
Hannah Schiff isn’t an ordinary 16-year old. She read about the CHAMPS program in an article in Bark Magazine that came out in May, 2007. Interested in knowing more she went to our CHAMPS website and read about what the kids all over the country were doing to sponsor dogs, and was inspired to run her own independent campaign! So for all of you out there who are feeling inspired, come back soon to see what Hannah is up to and in the meantime here's the letter that Hannah wrote that put New Jersey on the map of CHAMPSKIDS!!
Dear Ms. McCasland,
My name is Hannah Schiff and I am a 16 year old junior at Metuchen High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. After reading about your CHAMPS program in Bark magazine I was inspired to join the fundraising effort. I have an Australian Shepard, and I understand the importance of properly training working dogs. I know that your program mainly focuses on using schools, but I would like to contribute with an independent campaign. I already have an excellent fundraising idea, that I think can make wonderful strides in raising money to train landmine detection dogs. I would love to hear back from you, so that I can begin fundraising. Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Hannah Schiff
JUNE 2007
A Connecticut 6-pack! ---
Let’s talk about Connecticut! You’ll never believe this….not one, but THREE dogs have been sponsored in Connecticut! And, there are 2 more Campaigns in the works. Their goal is 6 DOGS… a 6-Pack from Connecticut! SO please keep on visiting the site and keeping an eye out on CT kids and the ever growing campaigns hapening there. The driving force behind all of CHAMPS Connecticut is Betsy Parkinson. Her dedication and support from family and friends, especially Carole McIvor, has made all of this possible.
AND ---
One of our CHAMPS kids was recently published on the MyHero.com website. Maxine from the Trinity Texas campaign wrote a wonderful article about CHAMPS. You can find it in the Texas campaign page or < click here > to see it on their website. Congratulations Maxine, you are a true CHAMP-ion!!!
MAY 2007
UPDATE --- The final count of the Trinity Episcopal Schools campaign Read-a-Thon is ...(drum roll please...) $28,416.24 dollars!
They will be presenting a check to Perry Baltimore of the Marshall Legacy Institute, myself, Rachel (CHAMPS assitant) and Utsi, retired land mine sniffing dog extraordinaire on May 22, 2007.
The kids at Trinity have voted to continue yearly with CHAMPS as an ongoing project and to participate in CHAMPS International and help landmine victims receive prosthetics, therapy and job training! I love it!!
< read
more about this big event! >
NEW SECTION ---
A big thumbs up for the incredible trainers at the Global Training Academy here in the USA. I'd like to let you know about the trainers behind the dogs who make all of this happen. Dan Hayter is one of the owners of the Global Training Academy and he is one of the best trainers in the world!! His son, Glenn Hayter, was one of my trainers. Very quiet, shy, but nice and as Dan’s son he's been working with the dogs since he was a little kid. He’s lived all over the world training new handlers to be nothing but the best. He’s only 20 or 21 now, but he’s been working as a trainer since he was 15! Isn’t that amazing?
< check out our section highlighting the Global Training Academy >
MARCH 30, 2007
BIG NEWS --- Our brand new campaign in
Austin, Texas at the Trinity Episcopal School has had one of the
most succesful campaigns in CHAMPS history!! They have singlehandedly
raised $23,700 dollars in just ONE Read-a-Thon. Congratulations
to all involved in the effort to sponsor a mine-sniffing dog named
"Tornado"
< read
more about this big event! >
MARCH 2007
Hi CHAMPS KIDS! I just wanted to share a link with you from the Kind News Website called "Hero Dogs" <click to go> and then surf back to CHAMPSKIDS.org for more fun stuff to do and learn about. Also, there are lots of new campaigns happening... one in Vermont, Texas, all kinds of new pictures in the Colorado campaign and new pics of the dogs so start surfing!!!
FEBRUARY 2007
Dear Friends of CHAMPS,
Today I went to the MDDC (Mine Detection Dog Center) in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s website and found their “news” section and KNEW you’d all want to see it too!!! Lots of info about the last 6-dogs, of which 3 are CHAMPS DOGS!!!!
Remember too that you can see so much of what is going on around the country on this website! Pages that are being written right now…CHAMPS Colorado, CHAMPS Texas – Trinity Episcopal, CHAMPS Illinois – Naperville, CHAMPS Vermont – Williston Girl Scouts Bronze, and last but certainly not least CHAMPS Texas – Alexis Keslinke Girl Scout Gold. Be watching on the website for those pages that will be added soon!
Love to all, we’re off to Miami to work with Rotary Clubs and schools!!
Warmest,
Kimberly
DECEMBER 2006
Hi CHAMPS!
First, I wanted to let everyone know that Nermin Hadzimugjagic who runs the Mine Detection Dog Center (MDDC) in Konjic, Bosnia and all the staff are busy at work with training!! Three of the six dogs there are CHAMPS Dogs… they include Arizona, Granite, and South Hadley. The dogs are in their 4th month of training and should graduate in February!
Secondly, I’ve great news, another CHAMPS Dog has been sponsored! Brownie was sponsored by the students at The Browne Academy in Alexandria, VA, after the students ran a YEAR-LONG campaign!! This school was the one I’d selected to participate in the shooting of the “Hero Dog” Episode of Animal Planet that featured our sweet Rosa. Brownie is the 7th CHAMPS Dog to be sponsored by schoolchildren in the United States in the last 2 years! Congratulations to the students, teachers, and parents of the Browne Academy!!! Brownie should start training soon, possibly as early as February, in Konjic!
Also, there was a change for the Teen Kids News Show (Time-Warner) about CHAMPS! The episode will air on December 31st …at 11:00. If you’ll follow this link www.teenkidsnews.tv you’ll be able to see which channel it will air on in your area! It is airing on 200 stations across the country! For those of you who don’t know about it…it was taped in Greenwich, CT at the Greenwich Country Day School last October and starring in it are Chelsea Fernandes (CHAMPS MA) and Betsy Parkinson (CHAMPS CT) (and I think Utsi and I are in there somewhere too)!!! Make sure to watch!!
I am excited to share with all of you that while I was in Bosnia a week ago I met with the wonderful students and principals of The Catholic Center School in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, who have joined forces with Jack Dilday and his friends at The Andover School in Massachusetts….for the FIRST EVER CHAMPS International Campaign. Other schools may join them to work towards sponsoring an International Dog!!! Good Luck and have FUN!!!
Alexis Keslinke and Chelsea Fernandes, both Emerging Global Leader (EGL) Award recipients at the Clearing The Path Gala in Washington, D.C., this last may, will be actively working on the CHAMPS International Campaign and have already begun to travel with the CHAMPS Team to speak at presentations in schools across the country! We’re proud of both of you!
Huge News: The CHAMPS Kids Website has gone live!!! While we are still working out the bugs and adding new pages, Lisa and Amy Carr, Website Designers and creative wizards, have done a wonderful job and I think you’ll all enjoy it! Alexis Keslinke is working on the CHAMPS International site and we’ll hopefully see that up and running soon. We’ve just started getting key schools and student leaders hooked up on Skype and equipped with a Webcam….so we will soon have everyone who’s running a CHAMPS Campaign hooked up together in a Skype Cast. We’ll announce on the website when we’re having web-conferences to share and encourage each other while we run all of our campaigns. Anyone who received this e-mail and who is interested in Skype & the CHAMPS Web Conferences please e-mail me!
Our wonderful CHAMPS Patron Mrs. Joan Wismer has graciously funded the webcams and building of both the CHAMPS Kids Site and the CHAMPS International Site!!! Joan loves the CHAMPS program and all of the students and teachers who are participating in making the world a safer place; and she has done more than anyone else to support our program!! Our deepest thanks go out to Joan for her generosity and kindness. Anyone who would like to thank Joan personally can contact me for her mailing information!
Lastly, I want to recognize the campaigns that are on-going across the country:
~CHAMPS New York, The Horace Mann School is halfway there!
~CHAMPS Connecticut is about half-way to their goal as well!
~CHAMPS Vermont is just a few thousand short of reaching their goal!
~CHAMPS Texas, The Trinity Episcopal School just had their kick-off in November!
~CHAMPS International is just kicking off in January 2007.
~CHAMPS Colorado will begin in Spring 2007.
~CHAMPS Minnesota begins in the Spring too!
Students from the CHAMPS New Hampshire Campaign, who sponsored Granite, are now running a campaign to start a Victim’s Assistance Program in Bosnia Herzegovina where their dog will be serving!
Chelsea Fernandes, who sponsored South Hadley, continues to raise funds that will go towards a Victim’s Assistance Program in Bosnia Herzegovina too!
We’ve also heard that the All-Saints Episcopal School in Phoenix, AZ….and the New Lebanon School in Greenwich, CT, may also begin campaigns to sponsor their own dogs!!
There are so many exciting things going on with CHAMPS and CHAMPS International! Thanks to all of you who care so much about other people around the world…CHAMPS is working! You’ve proven that ANYONE who has the heart to help, can work as a team member, who takes a leadership role, and who is dedicated to their Campaign….can be successful!!! Keep up the great work!
My warmest regards and wishes for a wonderful holiday season,
Kimberly