Teen donates $1,000 of bat mitzvah money to Palmetto's Southeastern Guide Dogs

PALMETTO -- A bat mitzvah is a big moment in a Jewish girl's life, as it is for the boys who celebrate a bar mitzvah. It is a coming of age ceremony that requires the studying of the Torah for a year when they turn 12, and the bat mitzvah celebrates the end of that spiritual journey and an entrance into Jewish adulthood at the age of 13.

In America, the celebrations are often a family-and-friend function that lavishes the teen with gifts to celebrate the achievement. Some synagogues, after the teen stands at the alter with religious leaders to read passages in Hebrew, encourage or even require the teens to do a "mitzvah," or good deed.

Illinois native Nicole LeVee celebrated her bat mitzvah last month and collected $1,000 in cash. It was a lot of money for a girl just entering her teenage years. While the temptation to spend that money on teenage desires would be considered normal, LeVee turned all of it over to Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto earlier this week.

"I love dogs, especially puppies, and I knew I wanted to give my bat mitzvah gifts to something that had to do with animals, but had something to do with people, too," said LeVee. "This is an amazing place and what goes on here is life changing for the dogs and the people they help. This place connects the dogs to the people so I knew I wanted to give it to them."

LeVee visits Florida every year during winter break to spend time with her grandparents in Sarasota. She's been coming her whole life and for the past several years, her annual trek to the Sunshine State includes a tour at Southeastern and her favorite activity of all time: the puppy hugging session where visitors get to play and cuddle with six-week-old future service dogs.

Larissa Daigle, Southeastern's senior donor relations manager, said she's seen a lot of kids do different things to raise money for the facility over the years, but had never seen one girl give so much.

"This is a significant amount of money for a girl her age," said Daigle. "Something like what Nicole has done is a very personal thing and comes from her heart. She really has a connection to this place and has a good understanding of what we do here."

Southeastern Guide Dogs provides service dogs for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and guide dogs for the visually impaired and commits dogs to other service related activities -- at no charge to the person in need. The average cost of raising, treating and training a quality service dog is in the tens of thousands of dollars. It takes about $9 million annually to keep Southeastern operating within its mission.

"As an organization that provides these super heroes to people in need, I think there is a real appeal to a lot of people and we are so grateful to all these folks like Nicole who connect to our mission here," said Daigle. "We don't provide dogs to people. We provide independence to people, and it's the dogs who are the real heroes in making that happen."

While some religious leaders "strongly encourage" teens to do a good deed as part of their celebration, LeVee's Jewish school does not make it a requirement. LeVee did it on her own because she felt compelled to help.

"It makes me feel good about it because I know that the money will go toward helping someone," she said. "It's so nice to know that. I knew from my first visit here what happens here and it's just an amazing place with amazing people and amazing dogs."

LeVee's mom, Jill, said what makes it a beautiful gift is that it really did come from her daughter's heart.

"It's something we talked about, and Nicole wanted to do something that was meaningful to her and to whatever agency she decided to help," she said. "We discussed it and it was Nicole who chose Southeastern."

Rick LeVee, Nicole's dad, said he couldn't be prouder of his only daughter.

"I'm so proud of who she is and the young woman she is becoming," he said. "What she's done here is just an example of who she is and I'm very proud of her."

LeVee was treated to a round of private puppy hugging at Southeastern on Tuesday. Those who participate in the activity often call it a "priceless" moment.

In her initial letter to Southeastern, LeVee writes, "I truly appreciate how you transform lives by bringing people together, inspiring people and extraordinary dogs. I hope this donation will be helpful to you to many future partnerships of people and heroic dogs. The world needs more organizations like yours."

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter@urbanmark2104

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Teen donates $1,000 of bat mitzvah money to Palmetto's Southeastern Guide Dogs ."