Kyle's Kindness

Local 10-year-old uses bond with autism support dog to spearhead fundraising effort

Aug 20, 2020 | 3:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – “He’s my best friend. I love him a lot. He’s helped me out every since we got him.”

In November of 2019, Kyle Garfield was given an autism service dog, Rufus, as a support for his diagnosis.

The 10-year-old from Prince George was diagnosed with high-functioning autism and anxiety when he was just eight years of age.

According to Kyle’s mother, Heather, Rufus has been life-changing and has helped both Kyle and his family in many ways.

“Having Rufus has changed life for Kyle, which has changed life for our family. It’s brought Kyle out of his shell. It’s made him feel confident,” explained Heather.

Rufus is trained in deep pressure therapy to help calm Kyle when he needs it but is also trained to provide extra safety for Kyle when in public.

The 3-year-old black labrador was provided to Kyle at no cost to his family from BC & Alberta Guide Dogs based out of Delta, BC. The organization also provides guide dogs for blind or visually-impaired people and PTSD dogs for veterans and first responders.

The cost of training these highly-skilled dogs is approximately $30,000 before providing them to an individual, which then includes lifelong after-care.

Rufus is the first dog of his skillset to be placed in the North but there’s a demand for more. Heather says because of the demand she would have never imagined that they’d be the ones selected.

“Our local Autism BC group posted on their Facebook page that through a donor here in the area they requested that their sponsorship goes towards a family in Prince George because of our lack of services and there’s huge waitlists for these dogs.”

But while Kyle received the help he needs, others aren’t as lucky.

COVID-19 has made for a difficult year of fundraising for the BC & Alberta Guide Dogs organization. As a result, Kyle took it upon himself to do something in order to help other families on the waitlist for a support dog like Rufus.

Here came Kyle’s Kindness. It’s what Kyle and his family have called their fundraiser. They’ve been making all-natural fire starters and have been selling them since the beginning of the summer. These are sold by donation with 100 per cent of the proceeds being given to BC & Alberta Guide Dogs.

“He’s taken it on so well, the responsibility. He gives up video game time, play dates, willingly to make the fire starters. He collects all of the supplies we need for them. He’s more than happy to do it,” explained Heather. “it’s brought him out of his shell and has made him so strong.”

“My goal was $500, but in the first 24 hours, we had made $1,800,” said Kyle.

He is committed to raising $5,000 by the end of summer, having already raised over $4,000.

If you would like to purchase a bag of five homemade fires starters, you can email Garfield.4@outlook.com or text 250-613-6306.

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