HOMEWARD BOUND: THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY OF SAM & LILY.....THE REST OF THE STORY...Well, another transport has been successfully completed. Two wonderful dogs have made it to their destination and, from all of the emails and postings, it looks like it was such a simple trip.
I mean, you pick up the dogs, put em' the car and off you go, right?
I say this all the time but it's worth saying again...Our Transport Coordinators, Juliana Lipe & Beth Goldowitz, make setting up/coordinating transports look like a piece of cake, a walk in the park.
Let me tell you, its "not"!!
To give you an idea of how this incredible 3200+ mile journey all came together consider this:
Juliana & Beth first started planning this trip a whole month ago!
They exchanged more than 1300 emails and phone calls with people as they were looking for drivers and coordinating both segments of the trip.
Weekend 1 trip from TX to AZ involved 20 volunteers!
Weekend 2 trip from AZ to OR involved 18 volunteers!
This does not include the foster parents, which were Roger & Janice, who first pulled them from the shelter and later, Stacey, who cared for them until they were adopted.
All of the volunteers that drove had never met Sam & Lily and likely will never meet them again, but they were there when the call went out and they donated their weekend, their gas and their kindness to help these two dogs get to where they needed to go.
Transport drivers are always the unsung heroes. Without these wonderful people we would never be able to adopt out as many dogs as we do. At least 75% of our adoptions are out of state adoptions that require a transport.
If it were not for the transport drivers, still more dogs might be put down in the shelter as we often need to set up transport to move a dog from the shelter to foster care out of the area.
Their contributions play a huge role in the operation of not only our rescue group but many, many others as well.
"Thank you" doesn't seem like enough, coming from me, but I think the smiles on the dogs faces when they arrive at their new home is the thanks that really matters.
I want to share a couple of notes with you all. These are from our 2 dedicated Transport Coordinators.
Its true, the drivers play a very important role, but if it were not for the talents and dedication of these two ladies, Juliana and Beth, none of this would ever come together.
If you ever see a transport traveling through your area, be sure to contact Beth or Juliana! Its fun to meet the dogs and your role plays a big part in helping the dog start a new life.
Beth writes to her drivers after the first weekend trip from TX to AZ:Hello again to Sam & Lilly's wonderful transport team!
I'm very happy to report that the big dogs have landed in Phoenix! Sam and Lilly have arrived at Mary's after another smooth day of travel. They had another wonderful day today and now will get a few days of rest before continuing on their journey next weekend.
All of us at NASRN send you all our heartfelt thanks for making this adoption possible. Have I said this before? You all are the very, very best! We often say that we couldn't adopt out the rescue Anatolians without help from our transport volunteers, and that's for sure true in this case. Your wonderful effort has given these dogs the chance for a happy home...together.
One more added thanks...to all the photographers and story-tellers from this weekend, thank you for taking some extra time to send photos and tales from the trip. It's safe to say that the Streets, along with many people online, have enjoyed being able to follow along.
We're already hard at work planning the second transport for next weekend and will be sure to let you all know how the big journey turns out. Thank you all, so very much.
Beth
Beth Goldowitz
Transport Coordinator
National Anatolian Shepherd Rescue Network, 501(c)(3)
www.nasrn.com
Juliana writes to her drivers after Weekend 2 from AZ to Canada:Hello to Sam & Lilly's Fantastic Weekend 2 Transport Team!
After weeks of planning, 3200 miles of travel and 10 days from beginning to end, we are delighted and very thankful to say "mission accomplished" for Sam & Lilly! These two wonderful dogs have endeared themselves to all of us, forged friendships from TX to Canada and given us the opportunity to see kindness, generosity and compassion in action.
The second weekend of Sam & Lilly's trip could not have gone more smoothly! It's been such a pleasure to work with each of you as we planned and carried out all the details of our transport. And it's been such fun to hear your reports and see your pictures from the road! Each of you took on over 200 lbs of big dogs without the slightest hesitation and delivered them safely, promptly and well loved to their next hand off spot.
And so, our transport has come to a tremendously successful conclusion with the Streets' safe arrival in Rosedale, but we all know it's just the beginning of a great new life for Sam & Lilly! We're so excited that we'll be able to continue to follow them on Facebook as they make their way around their new home and explore their Canadian surrounds. Who would have thought that two Anatolian Shepherd Dogs from west TX would have such an incredible adventure and a wonderful new beginning. It does our hearts good to see the good that can come from difficult circumstances when enough people care! And you were each an essential part of that caring group that has brought about this very happy beginning!
All of us at NASRN, including my fellow transport coordinator, Beth Goldowitz, who managed Weekend 1 of Sam & Lilly's trip, send our heartfelt thanks to you. We count you as special friends and look forward to future opportunities to work with you in rescue efforts!
With warm regards,
Juliana
