Request from Rev John Shumate of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Waukegan, Illinois

UPDATE: LCC has received a call from Newport Elementary School requesting the K-9 Comfort Dogs visit on Monday morning

K-9 Comfort Dogs Howe and Luther visited with the staff and students at Newport Elementary School in Wadsworth, Illinois. Over 30 children on a bus to school were involved in a vehicle accident and the bus ended up on its side. No students were seriously injured. Principal John Coburn (pictured) asks for prayers for the friends and family of the driver of another vehicle, who died on the scene. Thanks to Rev John Shumate from Prince of Peace in Waukegan for contacting the principal at the school. Prince of Peace has children that attend this school.

Accepting the award on behalf of LCC were K-9 Comfort Dog Addie, ministry co-directors Rich & Dona Martin, Jen Marr (handler at Immanuel Danbury), and Deana Mastropietro (handler and CT DCF counselor).

Senator Richard Blumenthal also received an award for leading new legislation on military service dogs. He said, "Senate passage of the Canine Members of the Armed Services Act is an important first step, but this fight is far from over. These courageous companions and comrades, who save lives on the battlefields by detecting roadside bombs and other threats, now can retire to homes in America with critical care and support." After receiving his award Senator Blumenthal then presented a certificate from his office to the Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs for their service to Sandy Hook and Newtown.

Pictured is Comfort Dog Maggie with directors of the K-9 Ministry, Rich and Dona Martin, and United Airlines staff Ben Garza and Charlotte Moore-Wilson.

For the second year in a row, Faith Comfort Dog of Christ Lutheran Church in Goodrich, Michigan visited the campus of Kettering University for a few hours at the beginning of final exams week. This visit was extra special since Faith took along Micah Comfort Dog in Training. Micah, just seven weeks old, made his first official meet and greet debut at the stress reliever session. According to Linda Todd, the trainer/handler of Faith and Micah, both dogs were a big hit. While Faith lay quietly on her quilt just enjoying the petting from the students, Micah was busy walking from student to student.

Micah gladly accepted all the petting and cuddling the students lavished in him. The day was just a bit tiring for Micah who ended up falling asleep in the arms of one of the students cuddling with him. Even though he fell asleep, the comfort didn't stop. Micah was so relaxed that as the students took turns cuddling with him, he didn't even wake up from his nap. Pastor Todd of Christ Lutheran stated that the meet and greet session was a big hit with the students. And this year, even more students came to visit with the dogs than at last year's visit.