About Hank’s & Eli’s Fund

Colton & Eli’s Story

A bond like any other and a legacy that will live forever, LCpl Colton Rusk and Eli are heroes that inspire all of us. Colton loved helping his fellow Marines but becoming a dog handler and getting Eli put them at the tip of the spear. With as many stories that Colton and Eli have, it’s hard writing a bio. Two separate sayings come to mind. “What’s mine is also his” and “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Kathy Rusk, Colton’s mom said, “How do I let people know how special my son was? Colton would have loved being able to help his brothers.” He is able to help others through this organization, and I don’t think I need to speak about how special he is because that goes without saying. Colton and Eli are the heart and soul of this organization. I hope we can become one tenth of the man Colton Rusk was.

William & Hanks’s Story

Guardian angels come in all shapes and sizes, natural and supernatural, and sometimes you won’t ever get to meet that guardian angel. One of my guardian angels came in the shape of a labrador retriever who goes by the name of Hank. Following four combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 75th ranger regiment, I was lost and struggling in ways in which I was never used to. I had always been a strong-minded individual and I struggled asking for help. When I did ask for help, I only seemed to be going backward. I was stuck in a cyclic pattern of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Hank was my last-ditch effort. I was tired.

Hank started to pull me out of that rut by opening my heart and showing me what it was like to love something again. The emotions that I began to feel were positive, and unlike what I had been feeling for the past few years. I was able to build a foundation on those emotions. Hank was always there for me. He made my happy, he relieved my stress, and he knew me better than I knew myself. He started the healing process, and he saved my life.
Little did I know, I would have the ability to be his guardian angel and save his life a few short years later. Out of that darkness came this incredible organization, and now we can help others who depend on their animals like I depend on Hank.

by William Cole