CCI Auction Brings In $108,700

In case you missed the news from the recent NADA Show in Las Vegas…Joe Verde continued his ongoing support for Canine Companions (CCI) and it’s Wounded Veterans Initiative at the auction sponsored by BackLot Cars (formerly ADESA) during the show. This year $108,700 was raised, the second largest amount in the history of the yearly auction.

CCI, a national nonprofit organization, provides trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities, including veterans.

The winner was Lane Nichols, the dealer principal with Gene’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, in Fairbanks, Alaska, who took away the LiveWire ONE electric motorcycle with a winning bid of $35,000.

Joe, a U.S. Army veteran, donated $28,500 this year. He has been active in the BackLot Cars Charity Auction since 2013, and has donated $308,000 to CCI’s Veterans Initiative through NADA and other events.

CCI trained assistance dogs provide help to those with physical disabilities or those affected by PTSD.

“It’s not unusual for veterans to suffer from stress, and one of the many things a trained dog does is help them to relax,” Joe explained.

Scott Dyer, who Joe met this year at the convention, is a graduate of the CCI PTSD program and is now working with Espana, the black Labrador Retriever that Joe was given the honor to name when she was a puppy, just beginning her CCI training program.

“We were all thrilled to see that Espana successfully completed her training and is making such a difference for Scott,” Verde said.

Verde’s father was a veteran, and his son and two grandsons are all veterans, making four generations serving in the armed forces. Verde served in the U.S. Army for more than seven years and was stationed in Vietnam in 1967, 1968 and 1969, during the Vietnam War, as a CH-47 Flight Engineer.

For more information about CCI, and how you can help, visit cci.org/veterans

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