Josh Gallagher Helps Raise Almost $25,000 For Life Saving Service Dogs For Veterans!

On Friday, Sept 25, Country artist Josh Gallagher hopped online for a virtual concert to help kick off graduation weekend for "Warrior Canine Connection", a non profit organization that benefits veterans suffering from psychological injuries from combat. The class of 2020 fundraiser event celebrated the new group of fully trained service animals and gathered almost $25,000.

As a brother of an Air Force Veteran and son of two first responders, Josh was instantly on board when the organization reached out to him. "I’ve never been in the military but I have family members who have been and are in the military. I have been raised by a family who’s been in either law enforcement or corrections their whole life, so I kinda have seen a little bit of the effects of some stuff that’s happened in their lives. I just wanted to come in here and talk about it.”, he said when he started his live online show. He even had to choke a bit when he mentioned why these kind of programs are so crucial for our society, pointing out that more veterans die every day from suicide than in actual combat. “Warrior Canine Connection is doing something to help out with that, to help to combat the 22 veterans each day that take their own lives you know.” Especially in the spirit of September being national suicide prevention month he wanted to “play a few songs, maybe help some people, try to bring some peoples spirits up.” After his moving introduction he played some of his most patriotic upbeat songs dedicating them to "all the brave men and women that keep this country free and keep us safe every single day”.

Warrior Canine Connection utilizes a Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) model. They don’t only train service dogs for wounded vets, but also include veterans as dog trainers in their program, offering a beautiful way for them to find new purpose, reconnecting to their own emotions and contributing to society. Trainers build meaningful relationships with the dogs from puppyhood on and have to teach the animals that the world is a safe place for them to be in and in a beautiful way, are relearning this for themselves. As the organization puts it, “Warrior Trainers benefit from the animal-human connection, while wounded Warriors receive the support that a service dog can provide.” It’s a truly remarkable and wholesome concept.

WCC was founded in 2011, has expanded into several states of the country and meanwhile has helped nearly 5000 members of service and vets.

You can tell how easy it was for Josh Gallagher to support this cause with his presence and music. Just before he starts singing his brand new song “Upright”, he calls Warrior Canine Connection “The best thing ever. (…) Everybody give warrior canine connections a round of applause, 'cause they are working freakin’ miracles. They are working miracles!”

To learn more about Warrior Canine Connection or make a donation, please visit https://warriorcanineconnection.org.