Our Purpose

Hingham Working Dog Foundation is a 501c3 registered charity (HWDF) that was founded in October 2022 to help support and grow Hingham’s Comfort Dog Program. Currently, our town’s comfort dog "Opry” and her handler Officer Tom Ford, Hingham’s School Resource Officer, have been serving the community since March 2022. Opry calls Hingham High School her home; however, her work has been extensive and she has spread joy all around Hingham including the elementary schools, the Senior Center, the library, many sporting events and more.

Dogs require good care and one of HWDF’s goals is to raise funds to financially support Hingham’s comfort dog Opry throughout her working life and retirement. Our first fundraising task is to provide the Resources Officer with a suitable work vehicle to enable Opry to travel more extensively around town. Ultimately, HWDF strives to raise funds to continually support Opry by covering all costs associated with her care; such as veterinary care, food, training etc. 

HWDF’s future goals: 

• Expand the availability of comfort/therapy/reading dogs in our community.  We hope to support Opry’s work by developing a team of volunteer therapy/reading dogs who can regularly visit nursing homes, hospitals, schools and libraries. We also hope to provide funds to ensure these dogs are trained to a high standard. 

• Raise enough funds to make grants available for Hingham residents who may need a trained Service Dog.