Benz’s new book describes the journey of a dog helping dozens of Ukrainian children – The Clanton Advertiser

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The cover of Nancy Long Benz’s new children’s book “Jane, Found on Jane Lane.” (NANCY LONG BENZ | CONTRIBUTION)

Tom Benz, left, with Nancy Long Benz and Jane, the therapy dog ​​of the Bridges of Faith Mission. (NANCY LONG BENZ | CONTRIBUTION)

Little Miss Peach Queen Ava Marie Bradley receives a copy of “Jane, Found on Jane Lane” signed by Nancy Long Benz. (NANCY LONG BENZ | CONTRIBUTION)

By Carey Reeder | Senior Editor

Nancy Long Benz’s dream of writing a children’s book has come true with the recent release of her picture book “Jane, Found on Jane Lane.” The book is a true story about therapy dog ​​Jane and her adventures with orphans from Ukraine that the local Bridges of Faith mission has been helping for over a decade.

Benz is the director of Bridges of Faith Community Services in Billingsley, just five miles south of Clanton. She grew up in the Gardendale area and was a teacher in Jefferson County for 25 years. After retiring, she began volunteering with Bridges of Faith.

“I was a mission coordinator at my church and was looking for some kind of ministry for them in another country,” Benz said. “Many of them didn’t want to travel to another country, but I wanted them to get hands-on experience.”

Benz brought groups from her church to Bridges of Faith to volunteer with mission work. She connected with Tom Benz, another mission staff member, and the two later married in 2020. After several key staff members left, Nancy took on a full-time volunteer position and moved to Clanton to begin her journey.

For 14 years, Bridges of Faith has brought groups of Ukrainian orphans to their camp south of Clanton for a month at a time. While in the United States, the children learn about Alabama culture, go to the beach, visit churches, visit the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, and experience much more. Benz and the staff travel to and from Ukraine at least three times a year for trips, bringing a handful of children back for overnight stays on the return trip.

Along the way, Tom Benz’s son asked his father to look after a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Jane while he was deployed. Jane came to the wide open grounds of the Bridges of Faith mission and immediately adapted to the area where she could roam freely. Jane quickly became the mission’s therapy dog ​​and accompanied the children on all their adventures throughout Alabama.

Benz worked as a preschool teacher, primarily in second grade, and she often read to the children. The more she read to the children, the greater her goal became to one day read her own book to the children.

“I always wanted to write a picture book,” Benz said. “Every time I read to the children and saw the sparkle in their eyes, I thought, ‘That’s something I could do one day.'”

“Jane, Found on Jane Lane” is the first book Benz has written, and it details the huge impact the therapy dog ​​had on the Ukrainian children. Since Jane is a rescued animal, Benz thought there was no better subject for a children’s book than her transformation from rescue to therapy dog. It’s a story about how anyone can change their life from bad to good, and Benz said it was easy to write because it was based on true events Jane experienced.

“Jane’s story highlights the unique therapeutic role animals can play,” said Benz. “By experiencing Jane’s story, young readers learn about empathy, community and the incredible connection between humans and animals.”

The book begins with rules that Jane must follow to stay safe in certain situations, similar to what the children Bridges of Faith helps in her home country must do. Later in the book, Jane’s transition to becoming a therapy dog ​​is described and all of the experiences the children have had with her, from the moment they met her at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The children just took care of her because I think it’s a universal language, the love of animals,” said Benz. “When they come here, they don’t speak any English, so of course they trust Jane, the dog, first.”

Copies of the book can be ordered at servicedogjane.com, and Benz personally ships each order. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book goes directly to an orphanage in Romania run by Bridges of Faith. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian children could not be placed in other countries. However, an orphanage in a neighboring country could provide them with safety, and so the mission continues to make a difference.

“Every person has a purpose, and with that purpose, you should be kind,” Benz said. “The moral of the story is: No matter what your background is, if you can be kind to others, like Jane’s human friends were kind to her and like she was kind to the orphans, then that can have a positive impact on their lives.”

Benz has held several book signings in the community and plans to hold more in schools throughout Chilton County during the upcoming school year.