$80,000 gift changes everything for veteran-serving nonprofit Top Dogg
By Kaitlyn Ross
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LILBURN, Georgia (WXIA) — What started as a struggling air conditioning system at a metro Atlanta nonprofit turned into an $80,000 act of generosity that’s already making a difference for veterans and the dogs trained to serve them.
At Top Dogg K9 Foundation in Lilburn, the sound of barking fills the building. It’s where service dogs are trained before being paired with veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.
But for months, the nonprofit was battling the Georgia heat.
“We’ve been suffering, summer after summer, with a 30-year-old system, doing a lot of patch work,” said founder Blake Rashad.
The aging air conditioning unit was failing, creating an increasingly difficult environment for both the dogs and the people who care for them.
That’s when Jeremy Melton, owner of Impact Service Group, learned about the situation.
“It wasn’t 10 minutes into the conversation,” Rashad said. “He said, ‘I love what you’re doing. I support what you’re doing, and I’m going to help.'”
Melton followed through — in a big way.
Working alongside a network of partners, Impact Service Group replaced the entire HVAC system for both buildings at the facility, free of charge.
The project included labor, materials and supplies from Impact Service Group, ductwork from BHW Metals and electrical work from Ayers Electric.
Equipment for the new system was supplied by Mingledorff’s through the network of a Corvant company, Rogers Mechanical.
Altogether, the effort totaled an estimated $80,000.
“My passion is to help people. At the end of the day, I just want to help people,” Melton said.
For Rashad, the impact is immediate.
“I was floored. I was speechless. I didn’t know how to respond,” he said. “What he’s doing for us — it’s going to change the lives of my veterans.”
The upgraded system is now fully operational, just in time for rising temperatures across metro Atlanta.
Rashad says the improvement means more than comfort; it’s peace of mind.
For the first time in a long time, he says he can rest easy knowing the dogs are safe, and the mission can continue without interruption.
And for the veterans who will one day be paired with those dogs, the ripple effect of that generosity could be life-changing.
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