GFWC Lutz-Land O’Lakes Woman’s Club members recently manned an informational booth at USF Health to familiarize students and staff with CCI and the upcoming DogFest Celebration on campus on November 8. Club members Edwina Kraemer & Nancy Fisher have chaired fundraising efforts for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) – Wounded Veterans’ Initiative for more than a year. Mr. Morton Stone (pictured above) is a retired Navy veteran, who after a 2.5 year wait, was the grateful recipient of Oscar, a specially trained CCI assistance dog. These wonderful dogs after being carefully vetted are put through a very expensive and rigorous training program before being matched with the needs of the disabled recipient. Fundraisers have been held over the course of the past year as this training/boarding and selection process is lengthy and very costly.