EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: 20 Years of Tailwaggin’

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — 20 years ago a man would pack his bags and move from the west coast to the east coast in hopes of helping train service dogs. 20 years later and a lot of ups and downs in between, our Extraordinary Person of the Week is celebrating a milestone.

“Everyone of our dogs has a biblical name,” Rick Hairston told Daniel Seamans, “so the very first had to be Moses because he lead them to the promise, the promise land.”

They can grab the keys your drop, they open hearts as they open a door, matter of fact there is quite a bit these dogs can do. Teaching them for the past 20 years is a man who moved to Wilmington from the west coast on a leap of faith.

“We kept praying,” Hairston said, “Lord, why did you bring us here, with a passion to do something and no where to do it? His answer kept coming back, start your own service dog organization.”

It was on a road trip to help clean a hurricane damaged animal shelter in Brunswick County that Hairston would get the courage to create “Canines for Service”.

“That morning I’m driving out to Southport, turn on Hwy 87, and I’m one of those 2 x 4 guys that you hit me in the head with a 2 x 4 and get my attention,” Hairston said. “I’m praying God, if you want me do do this, give me a sign that I can’t possibly miss. Town Creek Baptist Church had the marquee out, and that’s exactly what it said…”Looking for a sign from God? Well, here it is!”

And here it is, two decades later full of ups and downs, tails wagging and at times between their legs, a successful non-profit helping countless people.

“We’ve completed 20 years,” Hairston said, “placed 84 service dogs, can’t even begin to count the number of hours volunteers have put in, but we log close to 2,500 volunteer hours a month.”

49 of those 84 have been placed with veterans. You got your sign, Rick Hairston, and the Cape Fear got some much needed canines with more to come. That makes you, extraordinary.

For more information on Canines for Service, click here.