Bethesda Veteran Donates to Service Dog Nonprofit

A Bethesda man has donated $20,000 to help military veterans through the nonprofit Hero Dogs of Brookeville.

The grant from the Medtronic Foundation went to Hero Dogs volunteer Ed Levien of Bethesda, one of the foundation’s 2013 Bakken Invitation Honorees, reports Gazette.net.

Hero Dogs raises, trains and places service dogs with veterans who have been wounded or have a medical condition, says the website. Levien suffers from chronic pain and found relief through neurostimulation.

He chose to give his grant to the Brookeville organization to help other veterans.

“Hero Dogs are provided at absolutely no cost to the disabled veteran,” Levien told the website. “They are trained intensively for more than two years to do almost everything that wounded vets are not able to do for themselves. They truly give the wounded a second chance at life.”