Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will be able to breed and train a new guide dog after the Rotary Club of Orange North donated $35,000 on Thursday.
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It will be the second guide dog to be trained as a result of the club's fundraising, which has now exceeded $70,000 for the cause.
The previous dog, Autumn, recently graduated from guide dog training and was placed with a recipient. The club named Autumn and will also name the new pup and will follow its journey.
Most of the fundraising for the latest donation was undertaken at the Lead the Way charity concert, which was held at Orange Civic Theatre in September.
It costs more than $35,000, but it contributes to the cost of breeding, raising and training a guide dog.
- Guide Dog NSW/ACT community fundraising coordinator Rebecca Hedger
Guide Dogs NSW/Act vice president Lindy Druitt and community fundraising coordinator Rebecca Hedger said not all puppies from the breeding program become guide dogs and they can also become assistance or therapy dogs, or they can be part of the breeding program.
"It costs more than $35,000, but it contributes to the cost of breeding, raising and training a guide dog," Mrs Hedger said.
She said it was a two-year process to raise a puppy to become a guide dog and they also had to be matched with a suitable recipient with consideration given to height, the recipient's gait and the dog's personality.
Orange resident Matt Bryant said when he got his guide dog Bronco just over six years ago it changed his life and before then he had a white cane but was often afraid to leave home.
"He's given me back my independence," he said.
David Driscoll was the club's driving force behind both lots of guide dog fundraising and said the concert featured nine choirs, and along with contributions by Orange businesses and community members, a woman donated about $10,000 in memory of a family member.
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