Fund-raisers will help boy get service dog

In today’s Frontiersman, we introduce you to Willie Koonce.

He’s an energetic, charismatic 8-year-old who loves to run outside and play with the family pets — two dogs, two cats, a guinea pig and a canary. He’s the third of four children born to parents Joel and Carmi. In nearly every way, the Koonces are a typical Mat-Su Valley family.

Unlike their other children, however, Willie struggles daily with tremendous challenges. He has Down syndrome and autism and can’t verbalize his feelings and emotions. This can be frustrating for the family and Willie, but they haven’t let those challenges stop Willie from leading a full and happy life.

Toward that pursuit, Joel and Carmi are organizing a series of fund-raisers to cover the cost of procuring a specially trained service dog. At $13,000, it’s an expensive proposition, but one that in the end will provide Willie with not only a best friend, but a watchdog, lookout and guardian. The dog will help keep Willie from running away (which Carmi says he’s prone to do at any time) and the service dog can even sense when the boy is about to have an emotional overload at school.

“In so many ways, he’s just a regular little boy,” she says, adding she also wants what any mother would want for her children — independence. “I would like to see him to be able to increase his independence. He wants to go run and play, and he wants to do things and he doesn’t want to hold mommy’s hand everywhere he goes.”

Yesterday, the Koonce family got the ball rolling with an afternoon showing of “Mary Poppins,” and other fund-raising events will follow in the near future (keep an eye on our pages to let you know when those are scheduled).

In the past, we’ve told other stories of our Valley neighbors whose lives have been changed for the better through the use of service animals. One reason Willie’s story is one we wanted to tell is that until recently, not many agencies trained service animals specifically to work with children.

The folks at 4 Paws For Ability, an Ohio-based organization that connects people with service dogs, are working with the Koonce family to match Willie with his next best friend. We’re confident that in the coming weeks and months, you’ll be as impressed with Willie’s potential as we are.

After reading his story in today’s Valley Life section (page A10), visit his Facebook page at Facebook.com/4pawsforwillie. Send him a message, a “Like” or just watch the video his 13-year-old brother, Jonah, produced.