In 2020, members of the North Clay FFA Chapter in Louisville, Ill., started fundraising to purchase a seizure-response dog for one of their members, Macy Worthey, who has experienced uncontrolled seizures since the fifth grade. Their “fun run” raised the $20,000 the Worthey family needed to purchase a trained seizure-response dog from SIT Service Dogs in Ava, Ill.
It can take up to two years to train a service dog for duty. Worthey, a sophomore at North Clay High School, met the latest litter of Labrador retriever puppies and fell head over paws for the adorable dogs; she hopes to be matched with a dog before graduation.
“They were the sweetest things ever,” she says.
While Worthey waits for the right dog to be trained, the North Clay FFA Chapter has “adopted” SIT Service Dogs as a favorite FFA chapter project. The members hosted a donation drive for National FFA Week, collecting treats, towels and leashes for the Labradors in service training; community members contributed cash donations to support the cause.
“The owners of SIT Service Dogs were so surprised that a group of students and their idea generated so many donations for them,” says Katrina Van Dyke, agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor.
Worthey plans to volunteer with the organization this summer. She’ll take the dogs in training on excursions to parks and retail shops to help them get used to different sights, sounds and smells.
“It’s so hard to wait,” she admits. “It feels really good to be able to help until I’m matched [with a dog].”
