All of us involved in Parkinson’s Alert Dogs (PADs for Parkinson’s) are profoundly grateful for the recent grant from the San Juan Island Community Foundation. The funding was specifically from the San Juan Island Women’s Fund (a pooled donor advised fund), several other donor advised funds, and a private pass-through donation in support of our program to train dogs to detect Parkinson’s Disease. As we train dogs to detect PD reliably, then early diagnosis of the disease – for which there is currently no objective test, such as a blood test or brain scan – can be improved.

Early detection will allow symptoms of this debilitating and costly disease to be treated before they become life changing and life threatening. Demonstrating that dogs can indeed identify PD will allow our organization to help broaden the use of this economical and non-invasive screening method for early detection of this still poorly understood disease. Thank you for your support!

Lisa Holt, program director, volunteer staff members, the nine volunteer handlers and their fabulous dogs, the board of directors

San Juan Island