Marblehead Rotary Club Helping Local Boy Secure Service Dog

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Rotary Club is helping a young North Shore boy get his service dog.

The Marblehead Rotary Club is teaming up with the Chelsea Rotary Club to raise the $8,000 necessary for the family of 9-year-old Gabriel Bachour, who has autism, to secure Kacey, a black Labrador Retriever that will help Gabriel navigate social situations that come naturally to most children.

The Rotary Club said Gabriel is a "strong leader who knows all the planets, geometric shapes, states in the USA, and their capitals" — as well as an avid video game player — but has difficulty reading social cues and struggles with social anxiety due to autism.

Angelica Boucher, who is president of the Chelsea Special Education Parent Advisory Council, researched service dogs and believes one would help Gabriel immensely. The two Rotary Clubs want to help make that a reality.

"We believe in collaborating with other clubs whenever there is a need," said Marblehead Rotary President Arthur Schwartz. "Working with Chelsea Rotary on a project that has a real lasting impact on people’s lives is gratifying for us."

It costs the National Education for Assistance Dog Services about $45,000 to breed, raise and train a service dog — of which NEADS asks each family receiving a dog to raise $8,000. The Marblehead Rotary was working with a family in town to secure a service dog, but when that family did not qualify through the application process it turned its attention to helping the Chelsea Rotary help the Boucher family.

"It's great to be able to help someone locally who needs it and do something in this age of COVID-19 when so many of us feel helpless and challenged to get out and fulfill our Rotary mission," Chelsea Rotary President Todd Taylor said.

NEADS trains dogs to help adults and children who are deaf, physically impaired, and also children with autism or other developmental disabilities.

For more information on the Marblehead Rotary Club, and to assist its efforts to help the Boucher family, go here.