This one's a little different:
I donate quilts to be raffled and also give basenji themed quilts when a donation to BRAT (our rescue organization) is made.
Why?
Ever since I've been involved in the breed it was known that 20% of them would get fanconi, a fatal kidney disease. A human anesthesiologist, with a pet afflicted with the disease, developed a protocol that extended afflicted dogs lives, to the point that we had quite a few that died of old age, while having the disease.
For 20 years we collected pedigrees, with known afflicteds marked, saved some money, and waited for the scientists to tell us they were ready for our data.
They told us they were ready and over the course of a few years, we were able to learn, with a simple cheek swab for DNA, which two basenjis should be bred to not have puppies that would get the disease.
This was wonderful news of course, but some human drs contacted us, before we had the test developed, that they knew we had extensive data, and they were interested in the process at the time because there were about 200 children would wide that had the same type of fanconi and perhaps they could benefit from our info.
OMG, to think this awful disease could be avoided in children, and they were spread so far and wide over the globe, and out collection of pedigree data could help!
To be a very small part of that, I can't even put into words how that makes me feel.
To be involved with a group of people that accomplished that is the reason I continue to help