Montgomery County American Cancer Society officials are turning to those often viewed as the voiceless caretakers for cancer patients to raise money for cancer research.
It's an unusual tactic, mainly because there's a reason the caretakers don't have a voice — their preferred method of speaking is actually barking.
Nonetheless, this Saturday will be the county's first "Bark for Life" event, a fundraiser within a fundraiser for the county's various Relay for Life events, that will allow dogs to speak — or bark — out against cancer.
Dogs — organizers are hoping hundreds of them — will convene at Wheaton Regional Park on Saturday morning to allow their masters to walk them for one mile in support of cancer research.
When they're done, their masters will hand over a check in the name of Scruffy or Bud with all the money they've raised from fellow neighborhood dogs and their owners. The money will support Relay for Life, a 24-hour relay of humans who also want to support the ACS and cancer research.
Although the idea is new here, it was borrowed from a neighboring state. In Pottstown, Pa., dogs have been walking for the past several years to raise more than $30,000 at each event for the ACS, said Pottstown's original Bark for Life organizer, JoAnn McKiernan.
Like McKiernan, county ACS officials hope the event will collar new volunteers to cancer research.
"We will be reaching out and touching people who may not have become involved in a relay or interested in a golf event or a gala," said Kate Allen, Maryland's Relay for Life manager, describing some of the more traditional ACS fundraisers.
Joan Dickson, the ACS office coordinator for Montgomery and Prince George's counties, said donations have dipped with the economy. Bark for Life is a fun, new way to bolster fundraising, energize ACS supporters and bring in some new ones who just can't leave their pets at home.
But just as important is honoring the unspoken supporters of cancer patients, said Lu Merrick, a Kensington resident who has participated in the Relay for Life of Rockville for the past 15 years.
When her father had brain cancer, Merrick said she saw firsthand how his chocolate Lab would never leave his side. The dog would even bring him his newspaper and his robe when he couldn't.
"You have a connection with a pet that you wouldn't otherwise have with another person," she said.
Merrick's black Lab, Gus, is a teammate on her Rockville Relay for Life team. So far he's raised $730 for the team as a Bark for Life participant "by looking adorable," Merrick said.
But in addition to being altruistic, Gus is a competitor. He's also begging for money in hopes of being one of the top 12 doggie fundraisers Saturday.
As a treat, those 12 will be featured in an official 2010 National Capital Region Bark for Life calendar, the sales of which will also benefit ACS.
And Huck Bothner, a Laurel resident and three-year survivor of prostate cancer who will be speaking at Saturday's event, said his two Greater Swiss Mountain dogs brought a normalcy to his life while he was recovering from cancer.
Bothner said as his health improved and he was able to do the mundane, such as feed his dogs or take them on walks, he was able to "get my mind back to life."
Bothner said he's glad there's an event to honor the connection between dog and human.
"No matter how good our day was or how bad our day was, our dogs still love us and our dogs still need us when we come home," Bothner said.
Dickson noted that the cause — fighting cancer — is serious. But the method to raise money for the cause doesn't have to be.
"It's just another way of bringing in revenue," she said of Bark for Life. "But it's a fun way of bringing in revenue."
The American Cancer Society's "Bark for Life" event will be held 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Wheaton Regional Park, 11717 Orebaugh Ave. in Wheaton. Registration, a $25 fee, begins 8:30 a.m., and the one-mile paved walk will start 9:30 a.m.
After the walk, there will be games, prizes, contests and other fun activities for you and your pooch. T-shirts for the humans and bandanas for the dogs will be provided. To preregister and raise money, visit www.RockvilleRelay.org and click on the Bark for Life team.
The top 12 fundraisers will be featured in a photo shoot for the first 2010 National Capital Region Bark for Life calendar. All proceeds from Bark for Life go directly to the American Cancer Society.
