On Bandit, the USO's Comforting Canine

Remember a few months ago when I was trekking around Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, recording story about a wonderful dog named Bandit?

Well, if you don't, you can read about that here. If you do, keep reading. I have great news.

A few weeks ago, I finally finished editing together the video about Bandit, and it turned out awesome -- like, one-of-my-favorite-videos-ever kind of awesome. It has everything in it you could ever ask for a in a non-profit video: cute dogs, touching family stories, amazing people.

What can I say? Sometimes my job is really, really easy when I'm asked to tell such inspiring stories.

While I don't want to give too much away about the story (and take away too much traffic from the USO!), I will at least give you an embed of the video to enjoy. If you want to read more about Bandit and hear more about his work with the USO, click here.

Jetting Around For USO Stories: Part 2, Missouri

Looking back, it seems like forever ago that I was in Missouri shooting stories for the USO. But no matter how long ago it was (or feels like it was) it's certainly a USO trip worth blogging about!

After a wonderful weekend working in NYC back at the end of May, I headed back to DC for a hot sec (literally, less than 20 hours) and jetted off to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for a week of shooting.

The last time I was in Missouri was for the NCAA A-10 Softball Championships back when I was in college, and I didn't really get to see much of the area since I was playing softball, so I was glad to head back to the area to explore a little bit more.

Anyway, after landing in St. Louis, I drove two hours out to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, which is an Army base where a lot of soldiers go through basic training.

During my trip, I shot a number of stories, including a story about long-time volunteer, Henry, and covered the USO's special Caregivers Seminar, which provides support for those taking care of wounded, ill and injured service members. Although all the stories I worked on in Missouri were (and ARE STILL!) important, the highlight of my trip, hands down, was shooting a special video story about Bandit the USO Comfort Dog (sorry Henry!).

Now, I don't want to give too much away (I'll write more about this story when the video is done), but in a nutshell, Bandit is an awesome Great Dane therapy dog who spends his days putting smiles on people's faces. I got to spend a day with him, and let me tell you, it was AWESOME seeing all the big difference just one dog can make in people's lives.

Here's some more snaps from my day of shooting with Bandit and his mom, Kelly.

Although my trip to Missouri was jammed packed, it was really, really awesome. I can't wait to keep working on other USO projects so I can finally push out some of the video stories from my Missouri trip.