Dyer Difference is Digging Paw Prints and Art Prints
January started off as fast as a dog with the Zoomies for the folks on the Dyer Difference Award Committees in Indian River and St. Lucie Counties, and every bit of it was tail-wagging good. In St. Lucie County, the Dyer Difference Award chose to support the annual Blue Jean Ball, a legendary event created by local icons and animal-lovers Sandee and Art Allen who take participants back to the 1970s for an evening of bell-bottoms, platform shoes, mood rings, afros and Farrah-hair to raise funds for the Humane Society of St. Lucie County. As an official no-kill shelter, the Humane Society of St. Lucie County does its best to treat every animal in its care with dignity, patience, and kindness, and last year alone, it was able to find homes for over 1,000 dogs and cats and help more than 1,000 others stay in their homes by providing more than 104,000 meals to owners needing a little extra help. Since it’s the 70th anniversary of the organization, turning back the clock to the 1970s was a no-brainer for this year’s Blue Jean Ball, and we can’t wait to “Boogie-Oogie-Oogie” with the Humane Society crowd on March 7th.
Tails were proudly wagging in support of animals in Indian River County, too, as the Dyer Difference Committee honored Dogs for Life with a Dyer Difference Award and check for $3,000 to help train hearing and service dogs for veterans, provide therapy dogs for first responders and school resource programs, and maintain an off-leash dog park and training center in the community. Since 2001, Dogs for Life has certified 100 service and hearing dogs and continues to work with members of the community on dog-obedience issues in addition to their main mission. A service dog can assist with everything from providing ears that hear smoke alarms or paws that tap a 911 button to call for emergency assistance to legs that provide added mobility and pressure to calm anxiety attacks.
And even though the prints may not have been paw prints, the Dyer Difference Committee went above and beyond this month to recognize the importance of another kind of print in our lives. Art not only provides us with a form of self-expression, it allows us to give voice to our emotions and to communicate in unique ways beyond words, impacting everything and everyone around us. It helps reduce anxiety, stress, and depression while also increasing our ability to focus, problem-solve, and think critically, so despite the recent trends in education towards all things science and math, the members of the Vero Beach Art Club and the members of the Dyer Difference Award Committee and staff at Dyer Mazda in Vero Beach know how vital art is to our lives and our community. That’s why they chose to recognize the 90th Anniversary of the Vero Beach Art Club with a special Dyer Difference Award this month just in time for the Under the Oaks Art Festival, which will be held March 13th to the 15th in Riverside Park and will be celebrating its own 75th Anniversary.
The Dyer Difference Award is all about celebrating the beauty and kindness in our midst. For the Dyer family and the members of the Dyer staff, the award and the typical $6,000 in donations made monthly between the St. Lucie and Indian River Counties are all about helping to make a positive difference in the community. This month’s additional $3,000 award helps the community even more, and it wouldn’t be possible without the loyalty of Dyer’s customers who support their community just as strongly as they do in their Dyer family of dealerships. For the recipients, it’s an acknowledgement of their tireless efforts to do the same and a much-needed financial boost to help further their missions. If you’d like to nominate a non-profit organization for the Dyer Difference Award, please visit www.dyerdifference.org or find Dyer Difference on Facebook.
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