CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) As our community grows, the needs of many of those groups and organizations who volunteer and help in Clarksville-Montgomery County are also growing. A new nonprofit organization is growing to meet the needs of those people seeking help.
For this Giving Grace, we are going to learn more about Sheepdog Initiative from Founder, President, and CEO, and veteran, Dustin Maxfield. Sheepdog Initiative began in 2018 after Maxfield got out of the military and said he still had the desire to serve but wanted to do something on a more personal level.
He said everything came together after he joined his sister helping serve breakfast at an event with Manna Café Ministries. “I decided that this is what I wanted to do and the next thing you know we were packing up my van and handing out hygiene and snack items wherever we could,” said Maxfield.
Over the past year the efforts of the organization involving Maxfield, his sister and their father has grown. “We really just want to do better at doing our best. We really didn’t start out to change the world, we just want to make a change in the lives of the people we come across,” Maxfield said.
They now have a mobile pantry, affectionately known as Operation Love Truck, which runs bi-weekly from which they service homeless and poor members of the community.
Along with Operation Love Truck, Sheepdog Initiative has added a new program called “No Vet Left Behind” and they provide support for the Pennyroyal Veterans Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Maxfield said once a month they go there and gather a list of needs of what the tenants and center can use and make a delivery and hang out with them.
Another new program that Sheepdog has teamed up with is the Quigg and Calendar Project for awareness of veterans suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
When it comes to the name Sheepdog Initiative, Maxfield says Sheepdog is a common term in the military and law enforcement as well as biblical, one Peter 52, “protect the flock that God has entrusted to you.”
Maxfield explained when the Shepard is not around, it’s up to the Sheepdog for protection. Their motto is “we will never look away.” “That’s what we do, we try to answer every call and we do our very best,” Maxfield said.
Maxfield added that when other organizations don’t have the means Sheepdog Initiative tries to fill those gaps and those other groups lend their support to Sheepdog Initiative as well.
To learn more about the work of Sheepdog Initiative in our community visit www.sheepdoginitiative.org which features a listing of items that are needed for those they serve. You’ll also find them on facebook and Instagram.