Today marked a special moment for Guiding Eyes for the Blind as we celebrated the first-ever Guide Dog Draft at the Penn Club in NYC. In a heartwarming ceremony, two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning handed the leash of Ten, a yellow Labrador guide dog in-training, to our President & CEO, Thomas Panek. This event symbolized our commitment to empowering individuals with vision loss, providing exceptional guide dogs like Ten at no cost to the recipients.
Ten’s Puppy Raiser, Darlene and her son Brian, were in attendance, to proudly witness Ten’s handoff from Eli to her new partner, Thomas. Eli Manning has been working with Guiding Eyes for almost 20 years, inspired by his friend Pat Browne, who lost his sight but became a top blind golfer. Manning joined our Board of Directors in 2020. He likened Ten’s hard work, intense training and dedication to teamwork to his own career and the number he wore with pride.
The press that was present in NYC was charmed by Ten and the adorable future guide dog puppies who were there to celebrate as well! Ten received plenty of accolades for his hard work and achievements, but none more appropriate than encouraging words from football great Eli, “Great job. Welcome to the big-time, Ten.”
Check out the video in honor of Ten’s Draft Day, as well exciting press coverage of the celebration below!
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Guiding Eyes for the Blind Federal Identification Number (EIN) is 13-1854606.
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