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Faith the Dog, Interview 9/27/08
by: Rover 411 and Jude Stringfellow
Rover 411: Jude, first of all, let me thank you for sharing with us, and giving our audience an insider perspective to Faith and your family. We appreciate your time and thoughts!
Jude Stringfellow, mom of Faith the Dog: Thanks for asking me to be a part of Rover411 - I can't tell you how great it is. My very very first dog's name was Rover - so this is a real honor! Thank you.
Rover 411: What a great connection! Well, lets get started. Faith has appeared on TV, on the radio, and now in print and soon to be in movies. How has Faith’s fame affected you and your family?
Jude: Having Faith has certainly made our family more recognizable, but I wouldn't go so far as saying the family is “famous”. Perhaps Faith is famous now. I do believe the attention has been helpful in a number of ways - it has made us all aware of our own personal behavior in public, what is and what is not acceptable in general. I know that it has created an urgency in my own life to see and become aware of my own surroundings. I can see and detect more people in my own community or wherever I am who need help both physically and emotionally. I wasn't always keen to hone in on this before. I know it sounds rather selfish, but I was just living for me, and I do actually try to find ways now to help or assist others when I am blessed to be put in
their paths.
Rover 411: That must be a wonderful feeling, knowing that you and Faith can help so many others. What has been your most cherished moment to date?
Jude: Wow, you may have a hard time understand this - I know I did. We were in NYC and a woman literally crossed busy NYC traffic in a wheelchair to get to us. We were just thrilled to see her. She was without her legs, becoming a double amputee from diabetes - I placed Faith in her lab and she began crying. We all began crying. No one said a word. We just held hands and I was overcome with emotion. Even the cops that helped her cross the street became emotional. About a minute or so into the silence she looked into my eyes and confessed that she had purchased a hand gun the week before and she was going to be picking it up today at the shop - but that because of Faith, because of her message and her strengths, she had decided not to do it. We are still communicating today. She volunteers at an elementary school near her home now.
Rover 411: Wow! That is a quite a moving story! This is an amazing time for you, Faith and your family. Tell us about the foundation you just set up?
Jude: The Foundation is so precious to me! It is something that will be living on and on even after Faith has crossed the Rainbow Bridge to see Jesus. It is a means to get me and Faith, and later me with videos of Faith to people who could not possibly afford to bring us out to hear me speak - and to see Faith in person. I realize that it means that I will be working for less money, a salary rather than a normal speaking fee, but the money has never been the central point of what I do. I have the books I can write, I can still speak on the side, but the Foundation will be set up for those who can not afford to bring us out. We'll travel to 12-15 places a year, stopping in at 3 or 4 schools, hospitals, businesses or counsel while we're in these cities. We'll just stay a few days making people happy.
The Foundation is just getting started, an average trip to bring us out is $2000 without my fee. Flights, hotels, food, rental cars to get us to the places, all of this costs money, and some districts just don't have it in their budget. My kids were raised in a school that had 50 kids! There was no budget - my kids never had a single guest speaker until we moved to the city. I want to change that. I want to get in there and talk to the kids who may think they have no options because they were born to a poor family or born to a poor community. There is always hope, there is always a dream, there is always a way - I want to be the one to show them.
Since it's just getting started I do want to invite your audience to donate as much as they can in the names of anyone and everyone they can think of that they got to hear or see when they were growing up that made a difference. For me it was Bart Conner. He showed me that a kid from Oklahoma could really make something of himself if he just put his mind to it – The donation page on the website (www.faiththedog.net/donations.asp) has more information, this venture is going to become my passion.
Rover 411: What a great mission! Also, I understand a portion of your profits will also be going to Operation Iraqi Children (OIC). Can you tell us how that came about?
Jude: You know, some people who know me will say that the only reason I'm giving
to Operation Iraqi Children is because Gary Sinise, who I have a personal love and admiration for. But that's not the reason, however it is because of his involvement that I found out about OIC. OIC is a perfect place for me to give because the foundation is centered on giving school supplies to the kids in Iraq - and they are literally handed to these kids by OUR American soldiers! My son is in the Army - I am a former teacher - I remember the kids that couldn't afford paper and pencils and I used to hand out boxes of paper and pencils, erasers, rulers, and notebooks from my desk. I had no problem getting stores to donate to me so I could donate to the kids and that's why this foundation will benefit from my foundation's excess if and when it is appropriate to give it. We have to get started first! OIC is a wonderful way to show that we care for others and the future of those different from ourselves.
Also, as you may know, Faith is an E5 Sgt in the Army - She's a really commissioned American soldier! We hope she can inspire more troops this year by visiting USOs as we travel, and going to bases as we find places to speak. We never charge the military - they have to bring us out of course, but we don't charge them a fee for me to appear or speak. I hope that Faith is able to be a mascot for hope and inspiration to the men and women who serve our great nation. Her love and courage is not Republican or Democratic, it isn't even Independent - it's shared.
Rover 411: It’s great to hear that Faith is so patriotic. Rover is too! What’s coming up next for Faith?
Jude: Again, WOW.... I'm wanting to get Faith into a few multi-media programs; a feature, a series, maybe a commercial or two so I can show off her strength and spirit. We don't see Special Needs animals out in the public and she's a great motivator. She'd be a fantastic spokesperson/dog for something that could be used for either pets or people in terms of bettering their quality of life. She's a miracle, we may as well show her off! I want to take her to as many people as I can, and this seems to be a good way to do it. The motivational speaking I do now, the movies she is making for motivational purposes are great - but we'd love to reach hundreds of millions rather than thousands...she's willing too, that tongue is just wagging to go.
Rover 411: Well, we will do what we can to help you share Faith with others! I have enjoyed our talk very much. Again, thank you for sharing with me, and Rover 411. Let’s make plans to talk again soon.
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