Resilience is stronger when it’s shared.
July was a busy month for Walking With Honor, but it was also one of those months that reminded us exactly why we started doing this in the first place.
We attended events, continued building relationships in the veteran community, welcomed new dogs into the program, and watched this organization continue to grow. But the biggest moment of the month was definitely our very first Honor’s Legacy Bash at Henniker Brewing Company.
July 18 will always mean something special to me. On July 18, 2012, I met Honor—the shelter dog who would completely change my life and eventually become the reason Walking With Honor exists.
Fourteen years later, we were surrounded by veterans, dogs, volunteers, supporters, friends, family, and members of our community celebrating the legacy she started.
That was a pretty incredible feeling.
We cannot thank Henniker Brewing Company enough for hosting us and giving us a place to bring everyone together. Our first Legacy Bash was everything we hoped it would be, and seeing so many people show up to support our mission meant more than we can say.
We also need to give a huge thank you to every volunteer and sponsor who helped make Honor’s Legacy Bash such a success. An event like this doesn’t just happen. There are a lot of people working behind the scenes, donating their time, donating items and services, helping with setup and breakdown, spreading the word, and stepping in wherever they are needed. Our volunteers continue to show up for this organization in ways that never go unnoticed, and our sponsors believed in what we were trying to create and helped us make it happen.
To everyone who volunteered, sponsored, donated, attended, shared the event, or supported us in any way—thank you. Our first Honor’s Legacy Bash was a huge success because of all of you, and we couldn’t have done it without you.
We also had the opportunity that night to recognize some incredible people and organizations who have supported veterans and the work we are doing. Our inaugural awards were presented to Annie’s Angels, Dave Currier, and Veterans Resource Alliance of New Hampshire. Walking With Honor may have started with an idea and one very special dog, but it takes a community to keep something like this moving forward.
July also brought some new beginnings as we welcomed Resolve “Rez” and Arete “Ray” into the Walking With Honor family.
Rez, formerly known as Ruger, completed his decompression period and officially joined the pack as a future psychiatric service dog. Like every dog who enters our program, Rez was given the chance to settle in, show us who he really is, and begin building the foundation for the work ahead.
Toward the end of the month, Arete, better known as Ray, joined us as well. Ray brought another new personality into the program and another opportunity to give a shelter dog a second chance while working toward something much bigger.
Bringing in a new dog is always exciting, but there is a lot more to it than simply putting a vest on a dog and calling them a service dog.
These dogs aren’t equipment. They aren’t just here to perform tasks. They are individual dogs with their own histories, personalities, strengths, and needs. Our job is to figure out where they will thrive while preparing them for the possibility of becoming a partner to a veteran.
July was also another month of getting out into the community and continuing to spread the word about what Walking With Honor is building. Every event, conversation, introduction, and new connection helps more people understand our mission: giving shelter and rescue dogs a second chance while providing trained service dogs to veterans at no cost.
Looking back at July, though, I keep coming back to that night at the brewery.
Walking With Honor wouldn’t exist without Honor.
One shelter dog came into my life fourteen years ago and changed its direction completely. Now, because of her, other shelter dogs are getting their second chance, veterans are finding new partners, and an entire community is growing around the idea that sometimes two lives that need saving can save each other.
That’s the legacy we celebrated in July.
And that’s the legacy we’re going to keep building.
Resilience is stronger when it’s shared.
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