On Friday, March 22nd a steak supper and silent auction fundraiser took place at the Bella Vista Inn.

The fundraiser was to rake in money to go towards a diabetic alert service dog for Gail Maki of Humboldt. Maki has been living with type one diabetes for 41 years, since the age of 12.

"It's a challenge every day, I describe diabetes to people as an invisibility disability. which some disabilities are where you look fine on the outside but inside you're dealing with it," said Gail Maki.

With the right training, A service dog is able to sniff out symptoms of low or high glucose levels in a diabetic patient even before technology. Diabetic service dogs work for a span of 9-10 years. Maki's current service dog, Echo, is seven years old and is retiring in approximately two or three years.

The new service dog is to be trained by Maki and a trainer for a period of time. Afterward, Echo will then mentor the new service dog over the span of two years.

"There is a lot of work that goes into it, it's beyond the basics of obedience training. So by the time Echo is ready to retire, the new dog will be ready to take over."

Maki is getting the new service dog on Wednesday, March 27th with more than $2,000 from the fundraiser.