GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A charity is set to open a training center for comfort dogs in Grand Island.

Lutheran Church Charities recently announced it will start a new training class in January in Grand Island. The charity is based in Illinois and runs the K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry. It says they are looking for volunteers to raise and train the dogs.

The dogs are meant to comfort people who are suffering pain or loss, and they are deployed to crisis or disaster situations.

The training program will be the charity’s first outside of Illinois. There are currently three dogs in Nebraska. K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry and Disaster Response says it has dogs in 18 states, and will soon be in 22 states total.