On December 16-1 7, 2022, VITAS Volunteers & Staff, Thomas Dalton, Laurel Torres, Shelly-Ann Whittingham Sofia Mohammad, Al Sasiadek, Tina Reeder (and Dunkin) David Zielinski, along with 6 Nova University students, and staff from Palm Beach VITAS participated in the annual VITAS sponsored Bereavement Camp.
Several families came out to spend the weekend camping with us to share their feelings of grief in a safe space among other families experiencing loss.
Everyone participated in a plethora of activities while learning healthy coping habits and making new friends in the Florida sun.
This week Dunkin and I got to participate in local missions with our 11th grade students. Our week started with Innovation Charter School (ICS), a public elementary school. Immediately upon arrival the school’s principal called me into her office to visit with a little girl named Mia. She is a first grader and didn’t want to go to school that day. After some conversation and finding out the names of her friends in class, I asked her if she would like to introduce Dunkin to her friends. Mia joyfully went to class with her new friend Dunkin to share with her other friends Abraham and Peyton. I was also blessed to discover that Mia’s teacher was a former student of mine from Calvary Christian Academy! What a perfect first opportunity to share our “Message of Hope.” I started with: “Dunkin and I have come to tell you the most important thing in the whole wide world…God loves you.” We then went into our Gospel presentation complete with Dunkin hugging me when I recite John 3:16 (God so loved the world…) and a “high five” for the “Good News” that Jesus died for our sins and as I kneel Dunkin puts his paws on my knees so we pray to receive Jesus as our Savior. We all clap at the end because now heaven is our home. I finish with passing out “Dunkin’s picture” (our Canines for Christ card with John 3:16 and a prayer of salvation on the back) to all the students as they ask questions and pet Dunkin. We did this for four classes at ICS that day!
On Tuesday, we went next door to Purpose Academy. It is a small privately funded Christian middle school where some of the students from ICS continue their education. Here also we were able to share our “Message of Hope” with two more classes. We stopped in at ICS to visit a second grade class and present our “Message of Hope” and of course to check on Mia.
Wednesday we went to Markham Elementary school, a public school right down the street from ICS. At this particular school they requested we just sit in the media center and receive the students as the teachers brought them to us. I heard the principal announce, “hello students, we have mentors here from Calvary Christian Academy again but they brought a special surprise with them today, a Golden Retriever Service Dog named Dunkin.” For three hours we had a steady flow of students visiting us. Most had difficulty communicating due to language barriers and several teachers told me that their students had never pet a dog before. The teachers were very patient with the students, holding their hands and showing them how to gently pet his back. It was precious.
In the media center at William Dandy Middle School is where we spent our Thursday morning. I overheard an English teacher give instructions to write how they can best deal with their anger. As I spoke with students while petting Dunkin, several expressed fear. Two weeks ago a student brought a gun to school and daily they experience violence as students fight they told me. I was able to pray with two students on different occasions and tell them of God’s love for them. One of those students, David, I really connected with. I returned the following day with a student edition of the New Testament and printed pictures of him with Dunkin to leave at the school reception office. The receptionist was very excited to get it to him.
Our last day of the week we decided to “stay home” at Calvary Christian Academy and visit our elementary school. Because I teach so many classes, I don’t have time to go to that building and today was the opportunity. We visited two classrooms (2nd grade and 5th grade). What a joy! The students embraced and loved Dunkin as he had been all week but when I shared the Gospel with these students they all recited John 3:16 with me!
In total we visited about 10 individual classrooms where we shared the Gospel, spent over 6 hours in media centers letting the kids “pet the dog” and interacted with over 250 kids passing out his card with the prayer of salvation on the back.
Canines 4 Christ member, “Dunkin,” receives an official Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) patch to add to other identifications on his doggy vest. Dunkin and his handler, Tina Reeder, partnered with other EDS volunteers working in the Port Charlotte, Florida area in the wake of Hurricane Ian. “Dunkin is a rock star,” says Laurie Fried, Port Charlotte incident commander. “He has been a huge positive factor, both for our EDS personnel and families devastated by the storm.”
SOUTHERN SPIRIT• DECEMBER 2022 I
On 10/2022 Dunkin and Tina travelled to Fort Myers, FL as a Crisis Response team for Canines 4 Christ (a Christian Ministry using Therapy Dogs to share the love of Christ).
Dunkin and Tina’s goal was to serve with the Salvation Army to help and minister to the victims and first responders affected by Hurricane Ian.
Click here is an article on the Salvation Army website
Hurricane Ian was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall near Fort Myers, Florida, on September 28, 2022. It was one of the deadliest and costliest hurricanes in U.S. history, causing catastrophic destruction, particularly in Southwest Florida.
Key Details:
- Landfall:
- Ian struck near Cayo Costa, just west of Fort Myers, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
- The storm surge in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral areas reached up to 15 feet, inundating homes, businesses, and infrastructure.
- Impact on Fort Myers:
- The coastal areas, including Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, were some of the hardest hit. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, and major landmarks, like the Fort Myers Beach pier, were destroyed.
- Flooding from both storm surge and heavy rainfall caused widespread damage to homes and roads.
- Power outages affected more than 2.5 million Floridians, leaving many without electricity for weeks.
- Bridges and causeways, including the Sanibel Causeway, suffered significant damage, isolating island communities.
- Casualties:
- Over 150 deaths were attributed to Ian in Florida, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the state since 1935. Many fatalities resulted from drowning during the storm surge.
- Economic Damage:
- Hurricane Ian caused an estimated $113 billion in damages, making it the costliest hurricane in Florida history and the third-costliest in U.S. history, after Katrina (2005) and Harvey (2017).
- The destruction impacted housing, tourism, and small businesses, with some areas still recovering over a year later.
- Recovery Efforts:
- Emergency responders, FEMA, and numerous local and national organizations quickly mobilized to assist residents with rescue and relief efforts.
- Rebuilding efforts have been ongoing, but some areas, such as Fort Myers Beach, faced long-term challenges due to the scale of destruction.
Hurricane Ian’s impact served as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of Florida’s coastal areas to powerful storms, prompting discussions about infrastructure resilience and disaster preparedness. If you’d like details about specific neighborhoods or ongoing recovery efforts, let me know!
In March of 2022, Dunkin became a Vitas Hospice Paw Pal. He started with visits to the staff in 2021 because of the difficulty in visiting patients following the pandemic.
The staff needed the comfort during this stressful time as well! He now visits the Vitas IPU (inpatient unit) at Broward North Hospital.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Shooting – February 14, 2018
At Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale
As I sat there in a room of hundreds of students and parents, listening to a victim of the Columbine shooting that happened almost 20 years ago, a sadness and fear overcame me. It really happened, Columbine which seemed like an unrealistic movie had happened in our community just last week. Overcome with dread for what these young people faced that day, it was the reality of what their future would look like that ripped at my heart the most. As I listened to her tell the story of that day, hiding under a table in the library as the shooter walked by, my eyes gazed to a dog lounging on the floor at the side of the room. Yes, a dog. At first glance I thought it was a security dog but as my eyes focused, the vest it wore said Canines for Christ. Our eyes met and mine were instantly filled with tears. This dog was not for security, it was for comfort.
Her name I would soon find out was Coco and she indeed was a therapy dog. I spent some time petting her and speaking to her handler when a young girl approached. She joined our conversation and rattled on about how nice Coco was and about her dog at home. Soon the conversation turned as she said, “I knew him, I’m pretty sure I hugged him once.” I asked her to clarify and soon found out that she was talking about the alleged shooter at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School just a few days earlier. We were able to get a pastor and the parents to this child as she was processing her knowledge of this alleged shooter. Barrier breakers, that’s how I can describe therapy dogs. With their sweet, soul touching eyes and unconditional, non-expecting love they allow humans to process emotions and thoughts. That’s what I witnessed that day, as Coco just laid there unassuming, I listened and we were able to get a young girl the help she needed.
At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
It was time they returned to school. It was several weeks after the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas and it was time for the students to go back to the place of the massacre. On February 14, 2018 a gunman entered that campus with a semi-automatic rifle, killed 17 and injured 17 more. Therapy dogs were asked to be at the school for any child that needed comfort. As we walked outside through the corridors of the cement buildings it was amazing to see the variety and number of dogs with their handlers sitting inside classrooms or outside at picnic tables silently petting the patient pups.
I had the opportunity to be with Coco, an experienced German Shepherd Certified Therapy Dog and her handler inside a classroom sitting on the floor with some students when one young man approached. He was very quiet and I sensed his sadness. We talked about how he loves the theatre but his expression did not match his words as I felt the overwhelming darkness that consumed his heart. I asked him “Are you brokenhearted?” For the first time, he looked at my eyes and nodded. To which I replied, “Do you know what the Bible says about the brokenhearted?” He shook his head side to side indicating he did not know. I said “God, is close to the brokenhearted. That means that God is right here.” As I tapped his shoulder, his eyes filled with tears and he said with the face of a little boy wanting to believe with all of his heart, “Really?” And I smiled and said, “Really. God will never leave you nor forsake you. He is with you and that’s why we are here. To tell you that.” His eyes shifted to Coco as he continued to stroke her fur and I prayed silently. Only God can penetrate these overwhelmed, dark hearts of grief and bring light, love and healing and sometimes he uses therapy dogs to help.
Little did I know that through this tragedy God was preparing me to respond days, months and now years later. From that point on I used what I had, a 3 year old Miniature Dachshund, Harley. I was able to train and certify him as a therapy dog until 2021 when I got Dunkin the Golden Retriever and began a new and expanded journey in crisis response.