San
Diego, CA - It's not often a little dog gets to
assist TWO organizations at a single event, But then
again, Bandit isn't your average little dog. For the
second year in a row, Bandit represented the Officer
Gerry Griffin Memorial Fund at the 12th annual
Celebration of Champions held May 12th at
Embarcadero.
Out
of all the many charity events Bandit appears at,
nothing means more to him than
those where the beneficiaries are children. Bandit
knows how precious each little child is and how they
represent our future… and how heartbreaking it is to
see them with a serious health crisis.
So it was with a great
deal of honor and pride that Bandit and Mark once
again accepted an invitation to represent the Gerry
Griffin Fund at the event.
“Children’s
Hospital Hematology-Oncology Care Center is
currently treating over 650 children with Cancer.
According to the center, each year, 130 to 140 more
children are newly diagnosed and cared for at this
state-of-the-art facility. The children are provided
with the finest medical care available today,
including San Diego County’s only pediatric bone
marrow transplant program.
The Center’s
Psychosocial Program is designed to provide an
improved quality of life to both the children and
their families while they face the severely
challenging circumstances
of the illness and the treatment. The Celebration of
Champions was developed by the La Playa unit of the
Children’s Hospital Auxiliary as a way of
celebrating the efforts and lives of these children
and families while raising the funds to facilitate
these crucial services.
“It’s really important
to me to put this into the proper perspective,”
Shaffer pointed out. “Bandit and I get to show up at
these events, entertain people and put smiles on the
faces of children and adults who really need
something to smile about. And
it
makes us feel great. But there are so many more
people working hard behind the scenes to make these
events happen, it’s just incredible. I don’t have
all the names because there are so many of them, but
I really want to acknowledge the hard work of
Marilyn Cornwell,
Patti Horan and Denise Holcombe, the co-chairs of
the event. This incredibly important event would not
exist if not for their efforts.” With emotion rising
in his voice, Shaffer final thoughts were of the
organization he represented: “Finally, I want to
thank motor officers Bryan Young and Bob Van Wulven
of the San Diego Police Officer’s Association for
inviting Bandit and me to represent the Jerry
Griffin Memorial Fund at the event. It was a very
humbling day for us both and an absolute honor.”
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