I know for a fact that we are changing somebody’s life, and that’s the best part of all this.
Transcript:
Brad:
Hey warriors Withum’s guest on civic orders today is Jeff Mullins, who is the VP of Operations of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Rebuilding Warriors. Rebuilding Warriors provides highly trained and socialized service and companion dogs to veterans diagnosed as amputees as well as those with PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder and TBI or traumatic brain injuries. Most of their dogs are bred, especially for this mission and have a highly sought after demeanor. They provide these dogs to honorably discharged veterans from any branch of the armed forces or from any service area meeting eligibility standards as well as first responders. We learned a lot from Jeff to raise awareness, and things we should all consider with veterans service dogs and mental health. Let’s welcome Jeff to the show and let’s get right into it.
Jeff:
A little bit about me. When I was 17, I joined the Navy to join the Navy Seabees and if you don’t know about the Navy Seabees, uh, it was John Wayne’s favorite branch of the service. So I joined the Seabees as a, uh, as a construction worker. And um, so from 1977 until 1988, December of ’88, I did probably 10 or 11 deployments abroad, uh, to go to different places to do, uh, construction projects. And then, uh, I had gotten out for a while, went back in, uh, back in the New Jersey national guard in ’99. I met my wife in 2002 was going to get deployed to Kosovo and it was at that timeframe where, um, do I spend a honeymoon in Kosovo or do I stay home and then actually have a normal life. So I opted to get out. And a couple of years later I rejoined and I told my wife, I said, you know, if I go back in, there’s a chance that I’m deploying. And it wasn’t even a year before I went back in that we found out that we were deploying to Iraq.
Brad:
What year was that now?
Jeff:
That was 2008.
Brad:
2008. Okay.
Jeff:
At that point, I was 50 years old. I’m deploying with a bunch of kids who are medics. I naturally became like their, I don’t want to say their father figure, but I was, I was the, I was the old guy.
Brad:
You were the cool older brother let’s put it that way. Taught them all the things they needed to know.
Jeff:
Yeah. You just, you just do it the right way and we don’t have any problems. So, you know, so we, I did my deployment in Baghdad, I worked the second shift of the emergency room, came back to New Jersey, stayed on active duty orders. I stood up a combat lifesaver course that at Fort Dix for non-medical, people would come through the course, uh, for four days and we would teach them how to save somebody’s life, should it ever happen. And, uh, I stayed there for pretty much the rest of my career and I thought, I was safe from another deployment. And, uh, I had some Colonel, I’m not gonna mention his name because I still talk to him, but, uh, he actually said, come here, I want to introduce you to somebody. And he took me around the corner and he said, put the face with the name that I gave you. And I said, what’s going on? And he goes to go in Afghanistan. And I said, when he goes in 23 days. So a big difference between finding out when I was going to Iraq, which was well over a year to 23 days. And then I had to obviously let the family know that I’m going Afghanistan, I do my deployment in 2012, I come back. I have never once have I ever made a high school reunion. So the only thing I can say is go to your high school reunions. So a buddy of mine that I grew up with, Jeff Anderson, who started Rebuilding Warriors. Um, he also joined the, uh, the military in ’77 he joined the Army. So we, we kind of went separate ways and I didn’t see him again until 2014/2015. Tell me what he was doing, and I said, well, I’m all in, you know, if, if you need help, let me know. And gradually, whilst even still being on active duty, I still did fundraising, uh, in New Jersey and things just gradually grew. And you know, here I am, I’m retired now I’m the vice president. Um, I came out of the VA as a hundred percent disabled, uh, with post traumatic stress disorder. Do I regret any of it? No. Um, the biggest thing that I regret is what I have to deal with personally, you know, but it is what it is. So I don’t know if any of you have met my sidekick, Zoey.
Matt:
Yeah I met Zoey.
Jeff:
Uh, Zoey is a lifesaver, um, because there have been many times that I just said I really, really, really want to check out. And uh, you know, she’s the one that keeps me going. That’s the whole purpose behind Rebuilding Warriors is a, people like me. And, you know, I can talk about a hundred other people getting a phone call that somebody is, uh, you know, was going to kill themselves. They had the gun in their mouth and they’re looking straight at the dog looking at them and, uh, the bottom line was, he says, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it to the dog and now him and his dog are tralala-ing around, uh, doing whatever. And he doesn’t have that, that urge to want to just kill himself. That’s the good stories. In the beginning with rebuilding warriors when it was for him, Jeff Andrew started doing it, um, money out of his own pocket. He, uh, he was an army dog handler, became a, uh, like county sheriff dog handler, ah, shot on duty. Um, they retired him out of the Sheriff’s office. Uh, and uh, so somebody came to him and said, uh, Hey, do you think you could train a service dog for a, for a Marine? And he kind of chuckled about it and he joined the dog and that was dog one. Now we have 105 dogs.
Matt:
Wow.
Jeff:
It just escalated. And we get bombarded with emails, um, of people requesting a service dog, and it’s like, you have to really pick and choose, and we just can’t give a dog to anybody, you know? And the sad part about it is having to say no. And, uh, that’s the hard part for me. I got a phone call a couple of years ago and the guy was very adamant, very, seemed like a very deserving guy. And he said, well, you know, I really don’t need one, but I want one. That’s how it, I said, you don’t need one, but you want one. Then he goes, yeah. And I said, well, you’re not getting one of ours. Why not? And I said, yeah, sorry dude. There’s a lot more people out there better than, you. Yeah. So I have a guy here in New Jersey. We were supposed to have our fundraiser May 3rd, uh, which we, uh, we counseled and we probably aren’t going to do a New Jersey fundraiser this year, but typically we give a dog to a veteran at our event and, uh, he is so antsy about getting one. Um, and I had a, you know, I just don’t have anything to tell him right now. I keep telling him, you know, until they start opening up places where the dog can be trained in, uh, in a mall to use the escalators and elevators and stuff like that, and go to a restaurant and lay at the table and just can’t, can’t give you the dog, you know. And, uh, and I, I know what he’s feeling. I know he’s frustrated. Um, but you know, it is, we have to wait until the dog is perfectly trained before we actually give the dog away.
Matt:
How long does it take to normally train, train a dog?
Jeff:
Um, we, you know, it, um, the dogs typically start out as puppies. So, um, the dog, as the dog grows, we socialize the dog. Um, and then we, uh, teach the dog obedience. And then when the dog is at an age where you can teach other things to the dog, um, that a recipient would need, that’s when the, the actual specific training happens. Like, um, if the recipient needs stability or something , so the dog would come in front of them and the dog would stand there while you put your hands down on his front shoulders to help stand up or something. That all takes time and like turning on lights and opening doors and stuff like that. But typically, um, the dog is going to be at least 14 months old before we give the dog away. So, there’s a lot of it takes, it takes a little bit of time to do it. But unlike some of the other organizations out there, we don’t use, uh, shelter dogs. We tried. Um, for us, it’s just why are you going to give a dog that may or may not have issues to somebody who does have issues. So for us, it’s not a win, win situation, but other than that, it’s, uh, you know, I got involved with it because this is more therapy for me. I get more therapy out of doing this and talking to, uh, other veterans who have dogs that we’ve given dogs to than I have ever gotten from the VA. The VA, they all they wanted to do is pump you full of uh, medication. And uh, I couldn’t do that. I was, I would walk around like I was in a fog for, you know, most of the morning and then it was time to take my afternoon pills and then I’m back in a fog again. So I just stopped taking the medications and don’t want to say what else I’m doing.
Brad:
No need to, it’s all good.
Jeff:
It’s legal.
Brad:
That’s all we need to know.
Jeff:
Yeah.
Brad:
No, that’s true though. I mean, you know, a lot, a lot of it is definitely is definitely, uh, you know, I know, I know from personal experience that that medication is just a, it’s just a tool in the toolkit, but it’s not a, it’s not a solution by any means, nor is it a mechanism to help. It’s more of a, a piece of the pie if, if you need it, you know, I know there are certain, certain stances where, you know, if you have panic attacks, sometimes that medication is a life saving thing solely for the purpose of stopping the panic attacks but not necessarily helping with the actual root cause or whatever it may be.
Jeff:
Does it help the cause nine, regardless of how much you talk about it, that root cause doesn’t go away, but it just, it just doesn’t go away. You know, just the whole thought of, um, being shot at, um, like I was a medic for 13 guys, one guy got shot in the leg. Um, could have been me and then I would hope that I would have trained my guys enough, so that they would know how to actually do what they, when I would have to do. So. Um, it’s, it’s a, it’s a wonder, you know, but some of that stuff, it’ll always stay with you. It doesn’t always go away. Um, and I know as far as me and a lot of other guys is that we avoid putting ourselves into those positions, uh, that kinda harbor those, um, those thoughts, you know, like large crowds. If I go into a large crowd and I know majority of the people there, I’m okay. It’s a safe place for me, you know, and, uh, and that’s the way that I try to keep it. I’m more than happy to just take Zoey out and go to a park and do whatever. And, uh, if it’s just me and her, then it’s just me and her.
Matt:
When did you get introduced to Zoey?
Jeff:
Um, I actually, you know, I, we stumbled upon Zoey. Um, our other dog that we rescued, um, ended up with leukemia. We had her for twelve/thirteen years, so she was probably like 15 years old. And my wife was very distraught about losing her. Um, and she told me keep an eye on to the Woodbridge animal group, uh, Facebook page. So when I saw Zoey’s little photo, there was a puppy, I’m like, holy cow, I gotta go see this dog. And the minute I saw her, it was like, it was like true love and it’s, so I finally got her and I didn’t do any, uh, paperwork, uh, with the, uh, with the shelter to get her. So finally, I think she was like, at that point, she was like three and a half, four months old. I went back to the shelter when she was like nine months. And I said, hey, can I fill out the paperwork now? They said, yeah, okay. So, but then again, when I started doing Rebuilding Warriors, I got Zoey in 2015 or 2014, um, started doing Rebuilding Warriors and we would do these like little fundraisers and the guy at Millers Alehouse here in Woodbridge, we did a sell, a wrist band, for 10 bucks and they get 10% off their check. We made a killing over there and the guy tells me, he goes, you would make more money if you had a dog here.
Ashley:
True.
Jeff:
So I, I got Zoey and uh, we went and we doubled what we got the first time.
Matt:
Wow.
Jeff:
Yeah. So we ended up with almost $5,000 for four hours worth of walking around the place.
Matt:
Wow. Yeah.
Ashley:
That’s great.
Jeff:
So, yeah, and Zoey does a, you know, she just, um, did the, the other thing about a service dog is as a one, they’re outstanding listeners and, uh, I can say whatever it is that my anxiety, um, my thoughts, and she just looks at me and just takes it all in. And off we go. We go. I talk to her all the time, you know, and, uh, and that’s the other thing that people don’t realize is that they see somebody like me who could walk and talk with a service dog and I know people are going, but you know, what the hell is he doing with a service dog? But you can’t see, you can’t see PTSD unless it’s an outburst. And that’s the, uh, that’s the tough part. So, so yeah. So I’m, I’m fortunate to have her and, uh, and I know that every other recipient that we’ve given a dogs to, uh, whether they’re a fireman or a cop or, or a or a veteran, um, I get texts all the time. Again, I get videos. Uh, I gave a guy, a guy up in Boston, a, uh, a service dog. He’s a blessed firefighter. Uh, he was a Marine Corps sniper and, uh, I get videos and he goes, do not share these with anybody. And it almost looks like that the dog is going to go down the pole. He holds onto that pole and slides down. You’re, you’re, you’re amazing. Good. I’m going to be a YouTube sensation at some point. And the firetruck, he sits in the yard, he sits in the seat right in front of it, right next to him and just hangs out. Just, it’s amazing. You know. And then, you know, another big question people ask is, well, how do you train a dog for PTSD? And I go, you can’t, you can’t train the dog for PTSD. It all comes from the bond between the person and the dog. You know, Joey, uh, for my sake, uh, we could be driving in the car and she’s sitting up in the passenger seat, ball in her mouth. And, uh, and if I say a choice word, um, she turns it looks at me and then her, her leg comes up and her left leg comes over my right arm. And so I have to be touching her, which then changes my whole thought. And then I look at her and I go, okay, okay. So it’s uh, it’s the bond and um, you know, the that I have with Zoey is, is far more sophisticated than I could ever try to explain to somebody like theirs. She knows hand signals, she knows a little gestures. If I go come on and right away she runs through the house, finds her ball and out the door we go. So it’s, it’s amazing just how smart they are. And it really, it is what it is. You know?
Ashley:
I think the more people are aware just to be a little courteous of the people around them cause you never really know what’s going on in somebody’s life and the bond between a person and another human being or a person and an animal… at the end of the day, all it really takes is for somebody or just a quiet animal who can’t respond just to be there listening and you can feel that they’re there for you whether they’re saying something or they’re not. Um, and it’s the connection that, um, sometimes it just takes a little quietness actually to shed a lot of light on things that are important and to make you feel understood.
Jeff:
And they actually, uh, they actually talked a lot with their body language. You know?
Ashley:
Yeah.
Jeff:
Zoey is a, so she’s a huge talker, you know, so in the, uh, the, the big thing with her is it’s, it’s a, uh, it’s nothing more than just eye contact. She, she stares at me. I could walk past her right now and she’ll just pick her head up and go, where are you going? Are you going out the door? Where are you going? But you know, that’s, that’s what this is all about, you know, and, uh, I know out of all the dogs, and I was going to try not to talk about this, but, um, we’ve had, uh, one person successfully kill themselves and, uh, and it just happened to be the only guy who I gave a dog to that. The minute I met him was like, I knew him my entire life. And he was a, uh, ordinance disposal guy, uh, in the Navy, was 25 years in the service. 23 is 25 were attached to a seal team units. He was a paratrooper. He did it for the military. He did it as a civilian. And when we did his training, he looked at me the very first day and he goes, can Bea jump. And I go, that’s on you, my friend. So, but every day he asked me, he goes, do you want to jump? Do you want to jump? Do you want to jump? And I’m like, nah, not today. Not today. But I’ve jumped one time in my life and it was a good experience, but every day he asked me, um, we would go down to the jump zone in Virginia Beach and that happened to be a, a unit there. Uh, probably the most notorious one, um, that were jumping. And, uh, and I, I declined. And then, uh, we gave him the service dog. Probably about a year, little over a year afterwards. The, uh, he shot himself. So, um, it took me a while to talk to his wife to actually ask, you know, how we did it. And, um, it’s sad, you know, and, uh, it’s just, it’s just not supposed to happen, you know. But more and more people, uh, you know, the, the number of 22 a day, and I know everybody’s heard 22 a day. Um, but that’s only veterans. That doesn’t count active duty, uh, people in the reserves, uh, national guard, active national guard. So the number’s a lot higher than 22.
Brad:
Oh yeah. And include first responders in there. And you know, there’s a big stigma in the first responder world about even publicizing any of those statistics.
Jeff:
Yeah. There’s a, there’s a couple of state trooper, uh, people that I know a lot of state troopers and I know that there’s been a few that have, uh, committed suicide in their cars. So, sad.
Brad:
Yeah. It, it ha ha. So, you know, learning from these experiences and, and figuring out how we, how we make a better world there from your perspective now, how do us in the public, you know, helping the, is there anything that the public can do to help, you know, in these scenarios that, you know, a lot of it, as you said, is it’s, you’re fighting your own demons and it’s, it’s hard to overcome that, but you know is there anything that, you know, the world can do to help, you know, prevent that from happening? It’s obviously, it’s the last thing anybody wants.
Jeff:
There’s, there’s a lot that actually don’t talk about their issues. Um, those who do have service dogs, we’d rather just be left alone. Um, some of them who have, uh, been sheltered and sheltered themselves into going out into public and trying to be a little more social and that’s the whole purpose of giving them the dog. Um, what one of my things is, is, uh, as I ask them, I said, what are those things that you used to do that you don’t do anymore? So he, he or she would ramble off that list and then I go, guess what we’re doing for training today? And then the look that I would get, I’m lucky I’m still here, but um, you know, we had one that said, I will not go into a Walmart, won’t go into a supermarket. The very first time we went into a Walmart, I told her, I said, make a list of five or six items, go around the perimeter of the store, until you get to your aislethat you got to go into, go get your item and go back out to the wall. Go around, go to the next item, get it. We did that. She got all our items and she looked at me and she goes, are you paying for these? And I go, depends on what they are. You know. So ultimately she did it and a couple of weeks after we gave her the dog, she’s all by her lonesome with the dog now. She took a snapshot and she says, where am I? And I go, I know exactly where you are. She was back in Walmart all by herself in the mix with a bunch of people. That to her, that’s an accomplishment. And, uh, and we still talk about that. I still send her a message and I go, you want to meet me at Walmart? And she goes, I go, well, it’s gonna take me about two hours to get there. But yeah, we try to meet up with them all the time. But, um, you know, our event, uh, may, we, if we would’ve had it May 3rd, we would have had veterans coming from Virginia Beach, uh, Buffalo, just, all over the place. They come just to see everybody. And, uh, it’s, it’s one of the most rewarding things is to see everybody together. Um, and it’s, that’s their, that’s their comfort place. And basically that’s my comfort place too. And, and, uh, you know, we don’t get to do it this year, so we have to hang out and do it next year.
Ashley:
Do you guys have a way to communicate virtually over any sort of platform or anything?
Jeff:
Well, yeah, we use Zoom. So we do a, well, we do all of our family… I just got my mother who’s 83 years old to, uh, to do zoom the other day. You know, it’s the first time she actually seen interaction with my granddaughter. And yeah, I, I heard a few chuckles coming from her and, but, but yeah, so it’s a, we, we do keep in touch with a lot of, a lot of texts. Um, not too much, not too many emails, but we text and call and you know, out of the blue, I get a text from a guy in Alabama and says, you know, how’s things in New Jersey? And I said, you know, it is what it is. And he goes, yeah, same as it is in Bama. But we all try to keep in touch, you know. Um, but in other sense of, uh, to your question is, is, uh, you know, if, if the person wants to talk about it, they talk. Um, if not, then you know, the only thing I can say is it is what it is. That’s his choice or her choice. Um, that’s the same with, uh, you know, somebody asking to a pet, a service dog. And I, what sets me off is somebody who doesn’t ask, and the next thing you know, they’re reaching to the dog. And I pulled Zoey away and I was at a polar bear plugs a few years ago down in, uh, Seaside.
Brad:
Seaside oh yeah. We do that.
Jeff:
So, uh, somebody reached out down pet her and I pulled Zoey away and all of a sudden I hear, ah, the owner must be a blankity blank. And I said, no, you are. I said, you didn’t even ask. And he goes, well I asked the dog. And I said, yeah, you are. And we kept walking and he just kept mouthin me and finally my wife walked up and she said, just walk a little faster. I said, no, I want to walk a little slower, but it is, I mean, have the courtesy to ask somebody first. And it’s, I tell people it’s depending on the situation where we’re at. Yeah. You can or you can’t. You know, I was going to go do a service dog presentation. I’m at Newark International, I’m at our gate. And some woman comes running up. She goes, oh, can I pet your dog? And I went, no, sorry. But if you’re on this flight and you want to come back up after we take off, or you could come up and see her by all means, you know, but she did. But the, uh, the flight attendants do, they are the best. Uh, when I fly with her is that I have to be able to know that even though she’s there, you know, I get walking out, we fly to San Diego, I get out and Phoenix and people go, Oh my God, there’s a service dog on her. She’s doing what she was taught to do. Just be there.
Ashley:
How do you feel that having the dog in general, um, has, I guess, do you find that it brings you happiness? My friend – the reason I asked this particular question is I’ve never had a dog. So my one friend was fostering two dogs and she is a nurse, so she went to work one day and I had the dogs for the day and I was walking around the city with them and it made me so happy to see how happy people were seeing animals. Like I couldn’t believe how many more smiles I got because I had these dogs. So I was wondering if you experienced that, and when you’re explaining to the people that are receiving the dogs, um, do sometimes they have hesitations and how do you kind of talk to them about the benefits and the joys that you get from having an animal?
Jeff:
Yeah. One of the things that, um, one guy told me, he goes, one thing that I’m not going to like is people looking at me because he has a service dog. And I said, they’re not looking at you, dude. They’re looking at the dog. Leave it at that. Don’t read into it. Just, they’re looking at the dog. They want to, they want it. They want to see what that, what happens between you and the dog. That the dog is just laying next to you and people see the dog. I don’t, I, you know, personally, I don’t think they get, people could give a rat’s butt to me or they just want to see Zoey. And I know that that’s a hundred percent true. You know, there’s people that go, Oh, there’s Zoey. And then, you know, five minutes later after talking to Zoey, they go, how’s it going, Jeff? And I go, thanks for remembering my name.
Brad:
You’re lucky if you get that right.
Jeff:
Mainly are looking at the dog. They’re more curious as to the dog than they are the person, I think. And I, tried to tell him that, that, um, there’s going to be a lot of people that are going to want to talk to your dog. And there are, there’s a ton of people that always, uh, want to talk to, uh, talk to the dogs, talk to Zoey. It’s, it’s human nature. And, uh, and it does bring a smile to a lot of people’s faces, especially when you’re out in the mall or to a restaurant and, uh, and people see her, um, there’s a, there’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of amazement going on that, um, that she is trained so well that, uh, when I go into a restaurant, I have this round mat, this rectangular mat that I untie and I roll out the minute it’s out, she’s on it and she doesn’t get up. People are none the wiser that she’s even in the restaurant until we actually leave. So, you know, and, and I just, you know, it’s sometimes it’s really hard to explain. Um, how to tell somebody how others are going to react to your dog. Everybody’s different, you know, it’s like, I’m different with me and Zoe are different than what, uh, John Durenberger and Kilmer, which is a shepherd that comes up to about here on me. He’s huge. And, uh, he’s just, he’s a Czech shepherd and he’s just, he’s massive. You know, John Durenberger has, uh, has the son and he drives an event and, uh, you know, the big side window goes down and there’s Kilmer’s big head sitting in the window looking out. And I’m like, people just look at it and go, holy cow, what kind of dog is that? You know, but it’s shepherd. And everybody wants to talk to that dog. I, I’ve seen it. I’d been there. And uh, he has it. He has a way to get people not to do that, which I won’t say here, but, uh, the dog understands, uh, different languages. Czech, German, English. John gives his commands in German. So when somebody says, what kind of dog is it? You know, he says, Czech Shepherd. And he, John said, Oh, he says stuff, Doug does not understand English. You got to speak check to it. So he does whatever he does and he goes, go ahead, you try it. And now you’ve got the people doing exactly what he was doing. Just making noise. No, I’m doing it right. So finally, after a while, they, they walk away and I’m like, Jesus, John. You know, but crazy. Yeah, you got to have some humor with it, but some people actually walk away going, I talked Czech to a dog, you know, so it is, it is what it is, but it’s a, I don’t know, uh, I don’t know what, where I would be without the organization. It takes up a lot of time, keeps me busy. Um, I talk to an awful lot of people. It’s just one thing after another, you know, with, uh, with emails and, and, uh, purchasing dogs and, uh, you know, updates from trainers and so on. So it’s – keeps me busy and I, I can’t complain about that.
Brad:
So looking at it, you know, your, your organization in itself, you, um, you know, I’d say you’re looking at some of the, you know, the nerd in me pulls your 990s off the GuideStar to look at them. But yeah, obviously almost all of your dollars, if not all of your dollars, go, go directly into the operation of the organization. Now you have zero administrative overhead.
Jeff:
I think, uh, I think 2018, we were at like 97% went to the operation of the organization. So, I mean, it’s, we’re a hundred percent volunteer. You know, like this year I, I had to buy a computer, my other computer crapped out. It was mine. They went through a two deployments, so it died. So I had to get another computer and then had to fight with the computer to get all the rest of the stuff off of the hard drive. So out of the money for this. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s, we don’t spend anything on, on anything really other than the dogs, the veterinary services, dog food. That’s it.
Brad:
What is the cost that goes into, um, you know, providing a service dog to a veteran? What is the average cost involved?
Jeff:
Um, from start to finish, it’s about 15 grand. So that usually includes the cost for the puppy. Cause we, we purchased the puppies. Occasion we get them donated, but that’s far and few in between. Um, so raising the dog, the veterinary costs, uh, dog food. Um, what we do pay the trainer, uh, is a stipend of like 250 bucks a month to take the dog out to a restaurant, socialize them and so on. And it’s all part of the training. So we, we pay for that. And, uh, so in a, in a nutshell, um, it comes to about 15 grand, uh, prior to the recipient getting the dog. We provide them with the dog crate with the instructions. I would use it for the first couple of weeks until till the dog has acclimated to its surroundings. After that, if you don’t want to use it, great. Just let me know and we’ll make the arrangements to come get them. Um, we give them their first, uh, big bag of dog food, food and water bowls. They don’t have them. And, uh, the first vet bill was on us and plus we buy them, uh, their first, uh, set of toys and stuff. So, you know, we, we try to make it a, a, a smooth transition to the recipient where nothing comes out of their pocket. So it’s like the guy up here and um, wow. Where’s he live? Uh, Hasbrook, Hasbrook Heights. Uh, we have somebody, uh, friends of ours who worked for a Colgate and Colgate owns Hill Science. So Hill Science is gonna donate, uh, six, six, six or eight months of, uh, of food for the dog. Once he gets the dog.
Ashley:
Wow.
Jeff:
You take a look at it, that’s, you know, six, 50, 55 bucks, a big bag. So, but they’re, a Hill Science is good at donating. They’ve given us a lot of dog food over the years. So yeah, it all comes out of the operational. That’s what it’s there for.
Brad:
Sure. Where do the majority of your dollars come from? Do they come from general public donations? Do you have any, uh, no government funds or anything? Right. It’s all, it’s all general public donations?
Jeff:
No, private, all private and corporate, private dollars. Your fundraisers. Um, our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it’s been the biggest one, is the one that we have at The Headliner Neptune.
Brad:
Oh, sure. My sister was a bartender at Headliner for a long time. Yeah. She still lives around the corner. She still lives around the corner from there. It’s a, it’s a wild place.
Jeff:
Yeah. Yeah. But that’s our, uh, that’s our big fundraiser. And, um, you know, we average, I think we average probably about between 40 and 50 grand a, an event, which is nice. You know, I mean all the food’s donated. Uh, the raffle items are all donated. That makes it, um, a lot of work for me because I have to send out the receipts for everything. Yeah, so. But it works. And it’s a, we have a, we have a big following, uh, for that event. And people, you know, they were kind of disappointed that the Corona virus came and, but what are you going to do? You know, I would rather postpone it and I’m not going to ask people to donate. After the economy has been like, it is, um, they just, it’s not fair. And I think if we happen to do something like that, it would kind of give us the image that we’re being selfish and you know, it’s us, us, us, and I don’t want that. So it’s, it is what it is. I’m not – next year is another year, then hopefully, uh, hopefully things have recovered enough that people feel comfortable.
Ashley:
How many people, um, within Rebuilding Warriors are, um, individuals who may be received a dog and then, um, they, they wanted to train. Were there are a lot of situations where people have received animals and then they can, uh, take the next step to help train or acclimate individuals who are receiving a dog for the first time?
Jeff:
Um, actually no, we haven’t had any. Um, but I think the answer is yes and no. Uh, typically it’s at our fundraiser and I tell, I tell whoever the recipient is just, if you’re on Facebook, Instagram, just be ready for, um, being boarded with the friend requests, because as we give them the dog, um, I am, Jeff Anderson welcomed them to the rebuild warrior family. And it is amazing to see the outpour of, you know, welcome to the, and the friend request on Facebook. It’s, it’s, uh, at times it’s mind boggling. And then I get a side text and I’m going, who is…? And I said, no, it’s, they’re good except that outside, you basically have to walk them through. But it’s sometimes it’s overwhelming that how many people, but you know, they, they follow us and people watched the live presentations and that’s when it gets really, really good is for people to watch the presentation. They go on our Facebook page and watch any presentation, um, that we do.
Ashley:
Yeah. Do you think initially some people think that maybe they’re just going to be getting a dog and that’s it. And then do you hear stories about people coming back to you and saying it wasn’t just a dog, I also got a family and I also got a ton of other positive impacts?
Jeff:
There’s a bunch like that. There’s a, there’s one guy who, uh, he got this dog, uh, the dogs given name was Griz, Grizzly. He was a little red lab and his, uh, his nails were white as could be, which is kind of really weird for a lab to have white nails. And, uh, so he worked for the department of labor up in, outside of Buffalo. The attorney for the state for his office called me several times. And I’m like, what do you want me to tell you? Ask me a question and I’ll give you an answer. So she would start and I said, well, you know, you can’t refuse. You have to be an employee just because he’s got a service dog. You know that, right? Well, I said, you know that right? And uh, and finally she said yes. And I said, so what’s the big deal? She goes, well, what if people are allergic to dogs? And they said, well, tell them not to touch the dog. I really don’t know what to tell you. That’s your workplace setting that you have to deal with. I can’t do that. So I think about three weeks after he got the dog, he sends me a photo that his dog has a New York State Department of Labor ID card. So it all goes hand in hand. And, uh, like he has a, he rides a motorcycle and he’s got a sidecar. The dog rides in it with, uh, the the round goggles. Some people do the damnedest things, but they want the do them with their dog and it’s, it’s amazing of the steps and the efforts that they go through so that they can do it. So, you know, it, it is a big family. There’s a, there’s a lot of people that aren’t recipients that are considered part of the family that because of how much work did they do for us. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s crazy. It’s, it’s, it has grown so big since, since I and my wife did our first fundraiser here in New Jersey. It’s now, it’s like everybody asks what the next event, when’s the next event? And then new people are asking, what can we do? What can we do? And I’m like, go talk to my wife. But it’s, but it’s hard, you know. And last year I had to step away from the fundraising side of it with the raffles because it just, to me it got overwhelming, you know? And we’ve had 180 raffle lineups.
Matt:
Wow.
Jeff:
I’m like, I, I just, I look and we have a small house. We don’t have a garage to put stuff in, you know, so everything gets packed into the, uh, our, our front bedroom. And then when it comes time to load things up, we have people that come over and they start making baskets and then we load up great big trailer and off we go. But for me it’s, it gets overwhelming because I want nothing to do with that side of it, you know, I don’t mind going and asking, uh, if they’ll donate like the golf courses. Um, we get a ton of golf courses. Deal country club, which is exclusive to a members only. They’ve donated every year. Um, Trump National and Colts Neck donate. Um, so many of them jumping broke. Um, I did go to, uh, the, uh, right outside of Princeton, there’s a nice little golf course down there that I went to and they donate it. Now I have all these golf foursomes that I have to call them up when somebody answers the phone and say, what do you want me to do with them? Want me to just trash them or I’ve already given them the receipt for them, so I’m kind of hoping they’ll say, well, use it, you know, but if not, I’ll save it for a little honor the certificate. We’ll do it for another, a fundraiser next year.
Brad:
Yeah. Where do you as an organization need, need support? I mean, do you feel it’s, it’s financial. Do you feel it’s like volunteers? Like you said, you know, how having someone help manage, manage the fundraising process. Is, is a full time job in itself, you know, where do you feel that Rebuilding Warriors needs help?
Jeff:
Um, I think more so, uh, financially because we only, we do two fundraisers here in New Jersey, one that we host and one that somebody else hosts. So we don’t do nothing there, but show up. Which, those are the ones that I like, but we do do some stuff with it, you know, but, um, we have an awful lot of people that volunteer to help out with fundraisers, so that way I can step aside from that and leave it to my wife, my daughter. And who they choose to, uh, to, uh, to assist them. And, uh, and it’s last year, it worked out extremely well and, uh, and I was happy and all I had to deal with was, uh, you know, the, the media people, the, the recipient, the trainer, uh, make sure that, uh, you know, who’s adequately trained before we get to give them the dog. And that’s, that’s the way we like it. So, uh, to, to actually answer, it’s, I mean, we’ll, we’ll never turn away a volunteers, um, but typically our goal is to do, uh, uh, our, our, the number of dogs that we do per year is based on how much money we have that allows for the dogs. Um, because we, we, we have, uh, we have a lot of people in the pipeline that are just in the, in the, you know, as either a yes or a no and a more of a majority of more yeses. Uh, so we, we kinda cut the number off until we figure out how much money that we have that we can spend and still leave us, uh, enough money to start the follow the year, you know, for our, uh, kinda like our cushion. So usually it averages out. This year we’re gonna have probably a dark presentation after dark presentation after dark presentation. Uh, when did it finally we finally had that Avenue in which to go someplace to give a service dog. Um, so it’s, you know, I would say that we totally rely on, on money. Um, I think we, we do have enough people set in place that, that, uh, orchestrate the fundraising side of it. Um, other than that, uh, I think we’re, uh, we’re good, you know, and, and I just, I try to encourage people who come actually see a service dog presentation in person because you’ll never forget it, you know? Um, some, some of them are hard for me to get through, um, because I know what it’s like, and I know how their life is going to change by getting the dog. And there have been times up on the stage in front of, you know, 1200 people that I have to stop talking before I get too emotional where I can’t talk. And then typically my wife comes takes the mic, I’ll, I’ll finish this. But it’s uh, but it’s, uh, it’s amazing. It’s just, um, how many times people have told me that I cried my eyes out watching that presentation. It’s just, there’s nothing like it. There really isn’t because I know for a fact that we are changing somebody’s life, you know? And uh, then that’s the best part of all this. So like, look Ashley’s going to cry now.
Ashley:
No, it’s really touching. And you’re also shedding a lot of light on, you know, something that a lot of people aren’t quite familiar with or, or fully understand. Like you said, people might approach somebody with a service dog and then after and try to go like abruptly pet the animal and maybe after listening to really why somebody is interested in having the dog, why the dog is by their side, like I said earlier, I think it’s just a level of understanding and respect that even in, in quiet passing, you can have a level of compassion for people in a way that, um you’re shining, you’re shining light on.
Jeff:
And a lot of states too, it’s a, it’s a misdemeanor to distract the service dog. But I tell people that, I don’t know if it is the case in New Jersey or not. I haven’t had anybody give me a, a too bonafide answer, but I, I tell people, I say, you know, you really don’t want to be doing that if they want to keep going with it. And I then I say, you know, it’s a misdemeanor to distract the service dog and you’re distracting my dog from doing her job. And then they just kind of back up a little bit. But for the most part, I just tell everybody it’s a, you know, we’re here to inform people if, uh, if people have questions about service dogs, what their functions are, what they’re allowed to do and what they’re not allowed to do, they’re allowed to go everywhere. Go in to the restaurants. I haven’t taken mine to the beach, but sometimes it’s just, it’s too hot for her, but, um, but yeah, I’ve taken her up on the boardwalk and people say, you can’t have your dog on a boardwalk. And I said, it’s not a dog, it’s a service dog. Um, but most cases, a lot of people don’t, uh, don’t rebut it. And, uh, they have the same right as a human going into a place. As long as the dog doesn’t act like a normal everyday dog, then there’s no question why you can’t have that dog in there. But then that brings me to the point too of the illegal fake service dogs, which give ours the bad name. Take Zoey I go into Walmart and as we’re walking to go to a register, I hear a little yipping noise, and I turned and I look and there’s a woman with a dog in the shopping cart. I’m like, what are you doing with that dog in here? Well, she just wanted to say hi to your dog. And he said, is that the service dog? No, but I said, no, there’s no buts. You shouldn’t, you shouldn’t have that dog in here. Lady at the register where she was at was having a cow because I was saying that to her
Ashley:
And I was going to say, I think sometimes the service dogs and restaurants could even be better behaved than some small children.
Brad:
There is a, there’s no question about that. I have a, I have a two and four year old and uh, we experienced the brunt of that every night at dinner, the Duke and he’s got, he got air, comes down, lay down and wait for the kids to drop food, kids are throwing their food on the wall. They’re going bananas. Duke is fine.
Jeff:
People don’t bother her. They look at her and they look at me and they look at her and she doesn’t – like the only time she’ll get up, she’ll get up, she’ll circle, laid back down. I don’t have to tell her to lay back down. And then there’s people that, you know, that own the restaurant that, you know, they’ll say, who can I, you know, can I come over and pet her? And I go, absolutely. So they come over and they pet her and she stands up and she’s all wagging her tail and they pet her and they walk away and she lays down, you know, and I look at him and go, make sure you wash your hands.
Ashley:
I just keep thinking awareness. You being out at a restaurant, um, or anybody else with the animals because if they just ask about the animal first it opens up the conversation. So that in addition to all the presentations, it’s just opening up more understanding all around.
Jeff:
Yeah, there was a, there was a woman, um, I forgot where I was upstate in New York or someplace and she goes, what’s the name of your organization? And I said Rebuilding Warriors. And I was trying to find my wallet was in the car with my business cards and she’s going through her purse and she’s checking her pants and none of them are writing. I take one of the patches off is always best. And I go here, just take this and it says it right on it. Just RebuildWarriors.com. You can read about us.
Brad:
Is the best place to donate to you on your website, I see a RebuildingWarriors.com.
Jeff:
There is a, there is a donate button on the, uh, I believe on our Facebook as well. Uh, there is, uh, uh, it goes through a PayPal for the, uh, for Rebuilding Warriors. Um, you know, and every dollar that people give is a hundred percent tax deductible. The other night I, uh, before the event I posted that we canceled our event and I belonged to this fishing, uh, uh, club, uh, Facebook page on, uh, on Facebook. And, uh, the guy sends me a message and he goes, Hey man, I looked at your, your organization. He goes, I love what you guys do. I want to hold a little, they call them waffles instead of raffles. Um, and they, they do, uh, fishing items. So he did it. And um, next thing you know, he’s, he sent us a deposit for 370 bucks.
Matt:
Wow.
Jeff:
No, I can’t. I told them, I said, there is no words, dude. I don’t even know this guy personally. I have no, uh, you know, no, no way to actually, he described that he did this on his own accord. Um, and to get all of the people that donated to it was, uh, was amazing in itself. And that’s, and that’s how it all starts. You know, more people look at Rebuilding Warriors and here I’m in a group with, uh, 3,200 people in it. So if you stop and look at it, if more people go back and look through all of the other posts in there and say, Oh, they did a fundraiser for a, for a nonprofit, then people look at the nonprofit and there’s, that’s exposure in itself. That’s, that’s our goal. That’s my goal for the, for the organization is to get the exposure so that at war people could look at us and the more they look, the more they want to ask questions. And we have, we have nothing to hide. Whenever I do a fundraiser, I bring my, uh, my binder with me has all our nine nineties in it. Here it is, take a look at it. Try to be as transparent as possible.
Brad:
It’s a good thing. Yeah, definitely creates trust among the public.
Jeff:
And we have a lot of, uh, uh, of, uh, backing like the New Jersey Fireman’s Union. Biggest union in the state. They, uh, they love us, we love them, but we’re not gonna turn anybody away and people go, well, I can only give you 50 bucks, but, and I’m like, that’s 50 bucks that we didn’t have before. So all greatly appreciated.
Ashley:
So you have a Facebook page and you have –
Jeff:
We’re on Twitter and our website RebuildWarriors.com
Ashley:
You got three new followers today.
Brad:
Yup, I’m following on Instagram.
Jeff:
You guys did your due diligence before this anyway, so. Wait til I talk to Amber again. Yeah, it’s good though. This was, uh, I was, uh, I was totally, uh, surprised when she said, uh, um, which was the day that she called me and she says, uh, hey, we won. And I’m like, yes. So, uh, so I was, uh, I was, it’s kind of humbling that you go in front of a group, it was as big as Withum, um, and uh, and you get selected over, I didn’t go with what, 12 other ones?
Matt:
I think so. Yeah.
Jeff:
So, but, and then again, having Zoey there, I was probably the deal, the deal breaker right there.
Matt:
That was the highlight of the two weeks for us.
Jeff:
Yeah. But Amber was, was totally excited once you called me and she says we want, so that was a, that was good.
Ashley:
And now your here. So we’re happy that you’re here too.
Jeff:
Yeah. As I was saying, Amber is a Kevin Reinhardt’s cousin who got killed in action over in Afghanistan. So that’s kind of the link between, uh, um, her father who does the golf outing for the Kevin J Reinhardt foundation, who I get invited to all the time. So I know her father and then move ahead. Now Amber, Amber introduces us to you guys, uh, which is, uh, which is pretty cool. So the circle grows.
Brad:
And it will continue with our millions of followers on our podcast.
Jeff:
Let’s go. Let’s push it.
Brad:
Oh we’re pushing it out. Don’t worry. This is a good one. And I think, yeah, I love, I love raising awareness to this cause you know, you talked about a lot of things that I, I know even myself and many others are not familiar with and don’t, don’t fully understand. So obviously really appreciate your, your candidness and talking about it as well as sharing some of those personal stories. Cause it, it really helps people understand, I think the nature of the issues that exist as well as, you know, when you’re in public, how do you, how do you react? I mean, you know, you don’t want someone who’s just rogue and, and creating more of a problem. And, and most of the time it’s naive and it’s not even, it’s not even them purposely, it’s, they just don’t know. So I think it’s great that you share that.
Jeff:
And it’s hard to say that they’re ignorant. It’s just that people don’t know. So the more that we get to talk about it and explain the, uh, the etiquette of what should be the normal etiquecy with service dogs and other people who aren’t the recipient, um, what they should do or how they should act is one thing and how they ultimately act is obviously it’s another thing and hopefully the two of them come together as a the right thing, you know. And I always try to tell people, just please ask, I don’t care who pets Zoey, just ask.
Brad:
Yeah. I appreciate your time. I mean, thanks for, thanks for sharing your story. Obviously it’s, we really can’t say enough thank you for, uh, for all you do.
Jeff:
We’re here and this is what we can do as long as we get the word out, the only thing I can say is, you know, follow us, check out our website, RebuildingWarriors.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. So we have a lot of, a lot of information. Obviously right now there’s not a lot out there, but um, but typically we do do live presentations on Facebook, uh, for people to follow and watch. Thanks. Thanks for having me. And, uh, you guys stay safe and, uh, have a great day.
Matt:
You too, Jeff. Thank you.
Ashley:
Thanks you too.
Brad:
Yeah, thanks.
Brad:
Hey warriors. Thanks for tuning in. On the next episode of Civic Warriors, we’ll talk with Nancy Rudgers from nourish.NJ on how they continue to feed and fuel lives in their community, amid the the COVID-19 pandemic. Make sure to subscribe to Civic Warriors and thanks for all your support. Have a great day.
