Patterson : Foundation awards Leader Dogs for the Blind, a guide dog training organization, $30,000 in grant funding.

June 8, 2017 (ST. PAUL, Minn.) - At its April board meeting, the Patterson Foundation awarded Leader Dogs for the Blind, a guide dog training organization, $30,000 in grant funding.

Leader Dogs for the Blind empowers people who are blind, visually impaired or deaf-blind with skills for independent travel. The grant will help redesign the organization's Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (GDMI) apprentice program to be a metric-based e-learning platform that measures learning and material retention.

"Receiving the grant from the Patterson Foundation will allow us to improve the training we provide to our clients," said Susan Daniels, President and CEO, Leader Dogs for the Blind. "This funding will positively impact the quality of the services we provide for decades to come."

Every apprentice certified as a GDMI can train 12 guide dog clients or four to six Deaf-Blind guide dog clients annually. The redesigned GDMI apprentice program would also position Leader Dogs for the Blind to ensure future field service representatives are GDMI-certified. These field representatives recruit new clients, deliver in-home client services and assess working leader dog health and remaining working life.

"By supporting Leader Dogs for the Blind, the Patterson Foundation hopes to improve the quality of life for their clients who are blind or visually impaired," said Michelle Mennicke, Manager, Patterson Foundation. "It's an honor to support Leader Dogs and help them reach more individuals with their life-changing services."

Patterson Foundation is a private grant-making foundation that awards higher education scholarships to the children of Patterson Companies employees and provides grant funding to nonprofit organizations in the oral health and animal health fields. The Foundation focuses its grants on programs that provide dental care to disadvantaged communities and assistance dogs to veterans and people with disabilities. The Patterson Foundation is funded primarily by current and former employees of Patterson Companies Inc. Visit pattersonfoundation.net for more information.

Patterson Companies Inc. (Nasdaq: PDCO) is a value-added distributor serving the dental and animal health markets.

Dental Market

Patterson's Dental segment provides a virtually complete range of consumable dental products, equipment and software, turnkey digital solutions and value-added services to dentists and dental laboratories throughout North America.

Animal Health Market

Patterson's Animal Health segment is a leading distributor of products, services and technologies to both the production and companion animal health markets in North America and the U.K.