Happy National Volunteer Week to all my fellow volunteers! My name is Margaret Lopez, and I am a Volunteer Engagement Assistant for the Puppy Development and Breeding Departments. Through this role I learned about being a breeding host for Leader Dog. My husband and I are currently breeding hosts for Leader Dog Mom Kaiya! I am excited about both of my volunteer roles at Leader Dogs for the Blind (LDB). I began to search for volunteer opportunities at Leader Dog after seeing a Facebook post from the 2023 Dinner in the Dark event. I retired in late 2022 from a lengthy career in healthcare, so I ..read more

How Lucky Am I? As a volunteer management professional for more than 20 years, I have had the pleasure of being involved in several professional networking groups. Currently, I am facilitating two groups. Locally, I facilitate the Volunteer Coordinator’s Network of SE Michigan. This group of over 175 talented individuals is comprised of professional volunteer managers from the non-profit and profit sector in Southeast Michigan. Many of you would recognize the organization names. We meet several times per year to discuss topics of mutual interest. We share challenges and victories as we talk ab ..read more

Day One I have reached status in my life. Through the blessings of my work with Leader, I have attained… Silver Medallion status (insert dramatic music here). Among the plethora of perks of a Silver Medallion member, I am afforded the opportunity to check one bag for free. This is a big one, folks. I now get to have my pocketknife with me on my trips! I’ve carried a pocketknife since my father gave me my first one, and when I don’t have one in my pocket, I feel incomplete. “How much do you use your pocketknife, Barry?” you may ask. Well, I used it the very night I got to Warner Robbins. Indeed ..read more

Day 1 I flew out to Sacramento on Sunday, with a connection in Salt Lake City. I love Salt Lake City’s airport. So bright, with floor to ceiling windows everywhere which provide the natural sunlight and a view of the mountains surrounding the Salt Lake Valley. Just gorgeous. And, the men’s restroom has a ledge in front of the urinals where a traveler can rest his carry-on luggage without placing it on the floor of the restroom. Brilliant. From Houston to Salt Lake, I sat next to a gentleman named Brad from Kalispell, Montana. Brad works as an announcer for the PBR (Pro Bull Rider) circuit. Wha ..read more

Day 1 Houston to Atlanta to Lexington. Another first for me, as I’ve been through Kentucky, but don’t remember ever staying here.  On the hour drive down to Bardstown, every exit was either a Civil War battlefield, or a bourbon distillery.  This is gonna be a difficult trip… I’m here in Bardstown to work with Jen, who attended O&M training on campus back in September but decided that she would like some assistance in solidifying some routes back home. Jen worked with Hannah, another one of our excellent O&M specialists on campus, so she’s sure to have a strong foundation of s ..read more

Day 1 This was a crazy one, just getting to this day. Long story short, my scheduled trip to western Illinois got cancelled really late. Like three days before I flew out late. I called the lovely ladies on Leader Dog’s client services team and within a day’s time, they had me connected with a gentleman whom had just been approved for services the day before! I gotta tell you, those ladies (Melissa, Laura, Paola, Shadelle, Julianna, Allison, Deena, and Lori) are just great. If any of you reading this need something, need to know something, or need to get something done, call client services. M ..read more

Day 1 I flew into St. Louis this time. Carbondale, IL is about a 2-hour drive from the airport. I had a window seat and had a great view of the Mississippi River, the Arch, and Busch Stadium. It’s a completely different view from the first time I went over the Mississippi toward Busch Stadium. The old Busch Stadium, built during the era of unimaginative, cookie cutter ballparks, all decked out Astroturf. My family were on the last leg of the great American vacation. We’d pulled our Rockwood pop-up camper all the way to Michigan from Texas, and Dad had planned our return trip around a game in S ..read more

Day 1 Travel to north central Florida from Houston means a trip through Atlanta. Connections were all good, the plane train didn’t disappoint, nor did the automated soap dispensers and water faucets in Terminal B. Gainesville is a very small airport, which was refreshing in the fact that it was NOTHING like Atlanta. I’m headed to Gainesville for the week to work with JJ, who is a guide dog user but is looking to shore up her orientation & mobility (O&M) skills as she is contemplating retiring her current dog, Fergie. It’s another week in another town to which I’ve never traveled, which ..read more

Leader Dogs for the Blind today announced the appointment of Melissa Weisse as its new President & Chief Executive Officer, following an extensive, national search process. Weisse will replace Susan Daniels, who in May of 2023 announced her intention to retire.  Weisse is an industry-respected nonprofit executive with over 20 years of experience in fundraising and senior management leading staff and services that support people who are blind or visually impaired. Weisse has served as the chief philanthropy officer at Leader Dog since 2008. During this time, Weisse has grown total phil ..read more

When asked what they’re most afraid of, a lot of people answer that it’s going blind. In fact, studies and surveys have shown that people are more afraid of vision loss than cancer; stroke; heart disease; loss of hearing, memory, speech, or a limb; or even premature death. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 6 million Americans have vision loss and 1 million are blind. More than 1.6 million Americans with blindness or vision loss today are under the age of 40. The National Eye Institute expects the number of people who are blind to double by 2050. As we age, we are increasingly ..read more