In 1986 the Collie Club Of America established the Collie Health Foundation. The concept for this organization was conceived by the late R.L. Rickenbaugh, a longtime breeder, along with his wife Hilda, of the Bannerblu Collies.

Its main purpose is to issue grants to worthwhile organizations for research in breeding, genetics and health issues of all dogs, with the primary emphasis on Veterinarian research as it relates directly to the Collie. So far the Foundation has given grants to the following areas of research: Bloat, Grey Collie, Epilepsy, eye diseases (most notably PRA), DM and many others health related problems. The very important message of the Foundation is "funding research" and "education." It is a "not-for-profit" corporation that receives its funds through membership donations, fund raising activities and other contributions such as, $1 from every CCA member's dues.

The name was recently changed to the Collie Health Foundation, and we just adopted our new logo, as seen above.

Ten years ago, members of the Collie Club of Alabama came up with the idea to host our annual "Getting To Know You" which is patterned after "The Gathering" at Sunnybank. A couple of our members who had attended "The Gathering" came home realizing the great concept behind it and wanted to do something to help the Foundation in a similar way, and, "Getting To Know You" was born.

At every GTKY event, The Foundation hosts silent auctions that go on throughout the weekend. There are items of every imagination to be bid on, so you do not want to miss coming by the Foundation table to find items that you might not ever find again!!

The Collie Club of Alabama donates a portion of the proceeds of the GTKY events to the Collie Health Foundation. We are very proud to be able to do this and hope that we will carry this out for years to come.