CHAMPS Maryland
Glenelg Country School in Ellicott City, MD has sponsored five life-saving Mine Detection Dogs and just completed yet another campaign that raised enough money to sponsor medical treatment and prostheses for six landmine survivors in Yemen! Each year for the past six years, this incredible school has held a K9-9K Walkathon to support the Marshall Legacy Institute and to raise money to sponsor an MDD and to help survivors.
2016 Campaign to help Landmine Survivors
In 2016, during the 6th annual K9-9K, Glenelg Country School raised thousands of dollars to help six children in Yemen who lost their limbs in landmine explosions. These children’s lives are being transformed because of the dedication and hard work of the students and faculty at Glenelg Country School! Throughout the year, the CHAMPS Jr. club also sold bracelets, held bake sales, made blankets that they sent to children and mine survivors in need in Yemen, and held loads of other activities to raise funds to help mine survivors. These amazing students, staff, and parents are truly making a difference in the lives mine survivors around the world!
MDD Woody Campaign
In 2015, during the 5th annual K9-9K, Glenelg Country School raised funds to sponsor their fifth Mine Detection Dog, Woody. MDD Woody is currently deployed to northern Iraq, sniffing out landmines with the Peshmerga in Kurdistan.
MDD Jason Campaign
In 2014, during the 4th annual K9-9K, Glenelg Country School raised funds to sponsor their fourth Mine Detection Dog! They named the dog MDD Jason, in honor of Captain Jason Jones, who was the nephew of an administrator at Glenleg Country School and who was tragically killed by an explosive in Afghanistan shortly after the K9-9K. MDD Jason is now working in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “sniffing out” landmines and saving lives.
MDD Barrett Campaign
In 2013, the 3rd annual K9-9K Walkathon raised funds to sponsor MDD Barrett, named in honor of PFC Barrett Austin. Following the K9-9K, students and staff learned of an attack in Afghanistan that led to the tragic death of PFC Barrett Austin and which also severely injured Barrett’s Squad Leader, SSG Brendan Fossum, whose brother attends Glenelg Country School. Combining funds raised by Robbie Goodman, who generously donated gifts from his Bar Mitzvah, with those raised at the K9-9K, a life-saving Mine Detection Dog (MDD), MDD Barrett, was named in honor of PFC Barrett Austin, to memorialize his ultimate sacrifice. MDD Barrett is now “sniffing out” landmines in Iraq.
MDD Country Campaign
In 2011, the first K9-9K Walkathon at Glenelg Country School raised funds to sponsor MDD Country, who worked for four years in Afghanistan and recently was transferred to Azerbaijan where he will work for another 2-3 years before retiring with his handler.
MDD Dragon Campaign
Sponsors:
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Students at the Glenelg Country School and the Patrick Family.
Shelby Patrick, a sixth-grader at the school, initiated a successful campaign to fund a mine-detecting dog named Dragon in 2008.
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The school managed to raise $6,000 and the Patrick family funded the difference. The dog was named Dragon for Glenelg’s mascot and sent to work in Afghanistan.
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“Glenelg Country School has embraced this program and the students have taken it further to ask what happens to kids who have already been hurt by landmines,” McCasland said.
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Dragon’s assignment was the start of a series of coincidental connections at the school, she said, adding that the students, faculty and families have also raised funds to purchase prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and other assistance for landmine victims.
