This past Pesach, 11-year-old Lielle Frankel of Teaneck visited the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind (IGDC) in Beit Oved, Israel, and toured the facility with her family, learning about how they help blind Israelis navigate the world. The IGDC raises Labrador Retriever puppies, trains them in service tasks and sends them to foster families before finally uniting them with their owners.
Once dogs are paired with their owners, they live together on the IGDC campus for several weeks to ensure they make a perfect match. During this time, the pair navigates obstacles like mock streets and curbs and other potential real-world obstructions that the blind individual would not see on their own. Being paired with a guide dog provides the visually impaired with a tremendous amount of newfound independence. Dogs who do not meet the highly specific criteria for aiding the blind are partnered with either soldiers suffering from PTSD or children with special needs.
This visit inspired Frankel, who was looking for a project ahead of her bat mitzvah in February 2025, that could combine all of her interests—dogs (she has a mini Labradoodle named Daisy and loves animals), baking, Israel and helping those in need. Knowing how expensive it is for the IGDC to raise and care for every dog from puppyhood to retirement, Frankel decided to raise money for the center by baking and selling homemade dog treats. All earnings will be donated to the IGDC, which is funded primarily by private donations. Frankel will even make personalized jars to hold the treats.
In addition to selling treats, Frankel also set up a page on the IGDC website so that people without dogs can donate directly as well.
To learn more about the IDGC, visit www.israelguidedog.org. To donate to Frankel’s page, visit www.tinyurl.com/lielleIigdc. To order homemade dog treats from Frankel, visit www.tinyurl.com/lielletreats.
Eliana Birman is the assistant digital editor for The Jewish Link. She is beginning her studies at Barnard College in the fall and lives in Teaneck.
