I have gone to many charities throughout my life, but on April 3rd, I went to one that I particularly admired.

The Tower of Hope Foundation, started only recently in 2005, donates 100% of its proceeds to provide service animals to amputee veterans returning from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq so that they can live more independent lives.

That means that this organization operates with NO overhead (meaning it’s completely voluntary), unlike 99.9% of other non-profit organizations. While other organizations such as Delta and Seeing Eye offer similar programs, Nancy Kissinger says that these dogs are trained for two years through this program and then given to these veterans for free.

It’s a very expensive process, and most dogs actually fail to pass. There is currently a two year waiting list, and it’s embarrassing that there is no government support for this kind of rehabilitation program for our country’s soldiers who have been wounded in combat.

The foundation was started by Cathy Carilli who lost her husband on 9/11. She came up with this idea because she found tremendous comfort and solace from her pet cats during the months after her husband’s death.

Through her tremendous spirit and effort, she recruited Annette de la Renta, Major Rebecca Gimenez, Nancy Kissinger, and Dr. Paul Pion to be the event chairpersons. Husbands Oscar de la Renta and Henry Kissinger also came to show support, though Oscar was quick to add that his favorite charities were music programs in his home country, the Dominican Republic.

I was fortunate enough to speak to Major Gimenez to learn about what was happening in Iraq. She told of stories flying in helicopters and being shot at by bullets that had no chance of taking the aircraft down. She also said that an extreme class society exists there in which workers are imported from places like Bangladesh and forced into slavery when their passports are taken away. These people end up cleaning streets or working as waiters at restaurants and live a hopeless existence.

The streets, by the way, are littered with human and animal feces and garbage. Baghdad looks no different than when Jesus walked the earth, according to her description. Though she reiterated that she doesn’t hold political opinions as an officer, she does believe that if the U.S. were to pullout of Iraq, it would take at least several years to move the billions of dollars of equipment that has been transported to Iraq.

However, such a pullout is truly unlikely since the U.S. has never pulled out of other places such as Germany and Korea. Her stories will be told in full detail this summer as her first book, published by Wiley will soon be out in bookstores.

Ann Lee

4/4/08