Over the Memorial day weekend I rescued a lost dog. I would later find out the dog was named Riley, a small Yorkshire terrier who is 16 years old and deaf. She had found her way across what is normally a very busy road which is currently closed for an all summer road construction project. As I was curious about how the project was going, and the fact they were not working on a holiday weekend, curiosity got the best of me so I decided to walk down this closed road on the Saturday of Memorial weekend. As I was walking down the road I heard what sounded like a whining or panting sound. I stopped and looked around. There down in the ditch was Riley! I thought maybe the owner would be out looking for her so I better not take the dog right away. I would continue my curious adventure of checking out the construction progress. When I came back up the hill she was still there so I decided I had to help. She had no collar so no idea who she was or who she belonged to. I called my friend who lives by me who also owns a dog. I was thinking to myself she would be good helping me with this. She said she would come to where I was and meet me. I made my way over to Riley and after discovering no collar, the fact she was in the direct sunlight panting heavily, I scooped her up and headed for some shade. As I walked to the shady area to get her out of the heat, an unmarked Sheriff Deputy just happened to be coming along. I flagged him down. He checked with animal control and found no missing animals. He took my name and phone number and asked if I would mind taking her home and then animal control would call me. So we got into my friends car, along with her dog, Teddy, and headed for home. Just as we drove into the driveway the Sheriff Deputy called and said the owner of the dog is here where we met, could I come right back? We did and the owner and his dog were reunited. He was so so grateful and insisted on giving me money which I tried three times to refuse. Finally I said if you insist. He gave me $100! Money that I have since used as a 'pay it forward' by adding it to an impromptu collection for a friend (that's another story and one I will not share as it is my friends story and I do not have my friends permission). But I did tell my friend the money was from me and Riley, just sayin'... Now on to matters of Open Hands Midway. The Open Hands Midway food shelf continues to see significant usage on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. There are about 4 volunteers who have stepped up to volunteer on various days we offer this service. But we need more! It only takes 2.5 hours of your time and is not all that hard to do. Are you interested in helping? If you are interested a link for doing so can be found by clicking here. If you are new to volunteering with Open Hands Midway, please start by filling out a volunteer application and accompanying forms by clicking here. Open Hands Midway is also excited that we will hold our 7th annual golf outing and dinner fundraiser in July. All the information can be found by clicking here. If you are on our mailing list the registration flyer should be in your mailbox soon. I suppose I will now have to take time away from biking to actually get my golf clubs out and try hitting some golf balls, something I do not do much as I would rather ride my bike, just sayin'... Speaking of biking, earlier this month I had the joy of taking 11 days off from work! I had a beautiful time riding places like Scandia, Marine on the St. Croix, Hudson, Hastings, Stillwater, the Minneapolis chain of lakes, Minnehaha Falls, several trails along the Mississippi River, and much more. As an avid bike rider I logging about 345 miles, about a 30 mile a day average. Since mid March I have now logged 1000 miles on my bike for the year. Last year I biked 2244 miles so I think I just might beat my record for miles ridden in a summer. I am blessed that I am able to ride and that Minnesota has so many wonderful trails for biking, just sayin'... I hope you will take the opportunity to:
Join us for our 7th Annual Golf Outing & Dinner Fundraiser on Sunday, July 31
Consider volunteering at our food shelf
Donate food to the food shelf
Participate in the Special July funding challenge supported by Open Your Heart.
We are so grateful for the continued support we receive from those who believe in the work and mission we do in our community. Thank you for helping us help our neighbors in need, just sayin'...