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TAMKO makes donation to Dallas-based veterans charity

Joplin Globe - 10/25/2018

Oct. 25--Joplin'sTAMKO Building Products has made a donation to a Texas-based organization that helps connect U.S. military veterans with service and therapy dogs.

Patriot Paws Service Dogs, of Dallas, trains and provides dogs to veterans with various needs free of cost. With donations from TAMKO, the Dallas Builders Association and other manufacturers and contractors, the nonprofit plans to build a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home where veterans can temporarily stay while training and being paired with their dogs.

Patriot Paws said the pairing process can take as long as two weeks, meaning short-term stays are sometimes necessary, especially when veterans have to travel to the area to be connected with a dog. There is no cost to veterans to stay in the home.

TAMKO donated the materials and products for the construction of the home's roof. David Humphreys, the company's president and CEO, said in a statement included in a news release that veterans and veterans' issues are important to TAMKO and that more than 15 percent of its employees are veterans.

"TAMKO has a nationwide presence and so when we find opportunities like this that really fit in well with our values and our culture here at TAMKO, when we look at charities and things that are contributing to veterans, that's something that really speaks to us," Kim Eckerman, director of communications, said in a phone interview. "Employees with military backgrounds, they typically understand our organizational culture of honesty and integrity."

The home will be built in the Dallas area.

Patriot Paws said in the news release that it receives around 400 requests for service dogs each week, but is only able to place 10 to 15 per year. The organization has placed dogs with 187 veterans since its inception in 2006 and has another nearly 100 veterans on a waiting list, it said in the release.

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