Helping Pets One Step at a Time

                Ethel was born with three crippling conditions: the parasite Neospora caninum, severe bilateral hip dysplasia, and cervical spinal stenosis.  Though she is happy, healthy, and finally pain free, it didn’t happen overnight – it’s been a journey.  The first step was physical therapy to straighten her malformed leg; the second was diagnosis and treatment of the parasite that caused the debility. Next, we faced the need for total hip replacement.  In just two weeks, strangers and friends had raised the funds for her surgery and the idea to form a local charity for family pets was born.  In her third year, Ethel was slowly becoming paralyzed and her supporters, once again, rallied to provide the surgery to rebuild her neck.

                Now that she’s recovered, Ethel and I are taking steps to pay forward the generosity that afforded her a life filled with love, play, and good health.  Each time we take a walk, I log into resqwalk.com, an application for smart phones (both Android and iOS) that measures the distance we travel.  Each month, corporate sponsors make a donation that is distributed according to the number of miles walked in each charity’s honor.

                So far, over 1,000 miles have been walked and the Ethel Fund has been supported by participants in the Annual 10K/5K Race and Daily American Challenge as well as by walkers at the Bandshell Bark.  Use of the app is not limited to organized events, nor do you need a dog at your side.  In fact, it’s not even limited to walking.  You can use ResQwalk while riding a bike, jogging, running, or any activity that is measureable by GPS at a speed up to 14 mph.

                ResQwalk is a great way to further the work of the Ethel Fund without having to spend a cent.  The application is free and it doesn’t use any of your cellular data.  In just ten simple steps, you can join our team, and every step will help provide assistance to family pets with catastrophic veterinary needs, give sanctuary to the pets of women escaping domestic abuse, and facilitate the pairing of service dogs to people with disabilities.

Step 1: with your smart phone, go to resqwalk.org (or find it in Google Play or the App Store)

Step 2: download for free and click OPEN

Step 3: choose to ALLOW ResQwalk to access your location while using the app

Step 4: click on GET STARTED

Step 5: click on SIGN UP

Step 6: search and select The Ethel Fund Inc., then click NEXT

Step 7: click on the START ResQwalk  button to begin your walk

Step 8: click on FINISH at the end of your walk

Step 9: choose if you’d like to share your walk on social media and click DONE

Step 10: repeat steps 7-9 every time you take a walk