Pet project Student visits brighten day for elderly residents
ENVISION Magazine, 2006
UW-Whitewater senior biology majors Brian Darkow, Rachel Rugen and Michelle Toman have learned a lot in the last two years outside of class. They have learned it’s “rewarding to bring joy and animals into people’s lives,” Toman said.
Their realization was achieved through a community service organization called Helping Hands, which Rugen and Toman founded in 2004. Members of Helping Hands take pets to visit residents of Whitewater’s Fairhaven Retirement Community every other week.
“I’ve been told the visit brightens their day,” Darkow said. “It gives them some conversation they might not get on a regular basis.”
Darkow coordinates the group, selecting, testing and scheduling pets for visits to Fairhaven. Currently, there are 20 UW-Whitewater student volunteers involved in the animal therapy visits who bring dogs, cats, a chicken and Logan, a prizewinning blue Great Dane, to Fairhaven.
Director of Leisure Services at Fairhaven Gloria Madsen said the residents like children and dogs, especially big dogs like Logan, who is easy to reach out and touch.
“To make a difference in someone’s day, even if it is small, is meaningful,” Toman said. – Cynthia A. Vergenz