Passion Meets Purpose:
Uniting K9 Sports and Caregivers
During the last year, a group of individuals and compassionate small independent businesses who love K9sports have joined me in creating a small team dedicated to empowering one another through sharing our talents of software development, website creation, mobile dock event services, branded products, and competition solutions. We have helped 10+ small business owners in the K9sport community raise funds for their local events and began developing our PawDesk software.
With the help of friends, mentors, and business associates, I started to think a little bigger and ask how I could impact a larger audience. Odin's Dock was created based on the desire to help a wider group of people. Through our partnership with Odin's Heart Foundation, an MI-based 501c3 non-profit that supports caregivers of those with rare genetic diseases, we've embarked on a journey to uplift an often overlooked yet vitally important group: caregivers.
My vision is rooted in a deeply personal experience of helping others and the joy and connection to a community this can bring. I started Odin's Heart Foundation after witnessing the tremendous impact of rare diseases on caregivers - including my own family, during my grandson's battle. I felt very helpless for some time, but as things progressed, I started seeing a pattern appear. Caregivers are everywhere, and we rarely talk about the mental and emotional health strain on them.
During this period, I was working as a massage therapist at K9 sporting events and listening to stories about the dedication and sacrifice caregivers made in other people's lives. It was then that Odin's Dock was created as a vehicle to bring the message of hope, togetherness, and community while providing K9 Dock Jumping Entertainment. My vision for Odin's Dock is to spread the message that everyone can be a helper or caregiver daily. From mental health support to providing respite for family members, the need for caregiver assistance is great, and it starts with awareness and learning more about how to help.
So far, I've learned that we must perform small acts of kindness, acknowledgment, and support when and where we can and so much more. I am fueled by an unshakable belief that kindness can transform lives and industries alike. I hope others will support us as we unite the strengths of the K9 sports and rare disease communities to create a powerful synergy.
I'd like to invite you to join me in sharing the vision of K9sport.co or Odin's Heart Foundation and uplift caregivers by sharing our story with others, helping a caregiver in your community, sponsoring Odin's Dock, or donating to Odin's Heart Foundation. I'm excited to share this adventure with you and hope to see you on the dock.
With Much Love and Hope,
Rachel
"If butterflies can use their wings to turn the wind into hurricanes" Sam Ryder -Tiny Riot