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Golden Starfish Award
 
The Starfish Story
A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach on which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore. Further along he sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often, picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean.

"Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?," he asks.

"Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them further in they will die."

"But, old man, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it! You can't possibly save them all, you can't even save one-tenth of them. In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won't make any difference at all."

The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and throw it into the sea. "It made a difference to that one."
We are very proud to announce that Pat Duke, NRGRR volunteer, has been awarded the ‘Golden Starfish Award’ by the Golden Retriever Club of America's National Rescue Committee. This prestigious award is presented on an annual basis to one or more rescue groups or individuals who have made a significant contribution to Golden Retriever rescue efforts. Our very own star will have her accomplishments recognized in an article to be printed in the GR News, and on the GRCA-NRC website.

Pat has made a big impact in our organization. Pat came to NRGRR looking to adopt a Golden. At the time she didn’t realize that she would virtually be adopting hundreds of Goldens every year. As our Foster Coordinator, she takes a personal interest in every single dog. She knows their stories, collects their pictures and carefully matches them with foster homes. Pat works tirelessly supporting her fosters, offering constant support and advice, coordinating dog training workshops and mentoring them through challenging issues.

In addition to her titanic efforts as Foster Coordinator, Pat also organizes our adopt-a-thons and participates in various fundraising events, writes countless letters and flyers to elevate the visibility of the Rescue, recruits new volunteers and even manages to foster dogs herself!

Pat’s enthusiasm is contagious, which was evident when our organization was fortunate enough to have an alumnus, Hank, in the finals of Circuit City’s “Find the Next Firedog” contest. If Hank received the most online votes in a 3-week period, NRGRR would win a $50,000 donation plus $1 for every vote. Pat immediately put herself out in front to lead Hank’s parade. She posted flyers, e-mailed everyone she knew, set up laptops at our adopt-a-thon so people could immediately enter their votes, talked about Hank on two different radio shows, proudly wore her “Vote for Hank” pin, encouraged strangers on the street to support Hank’s campaign and inspired hundreds of people to spread the word. At the end of the contest, when all of her hard work paid off with a big win for Hank and NRGRR, Pat was the first one to make sure we thanked Hank’s supporters, Hank’s family and all of the other finalists in the contest.

Because Pat is a terrific role model, makes a difference in the lives of other people and Goldens, has a shining attitude, treats volunteers with respect and exhibits all of the wonderful characteristics of the Golden Retriever breed, she deserves to be recognized with the very special Golden Starfish Award and we feel honored that she has chosen our organization to work with.

The Starfish Awards will be presented at Goldstock (Pennsylvania) in early September and again at the GRCA National Specialty's Annual Meeting on September 26 (Rhode Island).
 
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