Last year, when our beloved dog Isabelle went missing, this community stepped up in a way that was a remarkable testament to the amazing people calling this Island home. While Bella was never found, our broken hearts were warmed by so many working to help bring our achingly adored blue-eyed girl home.

They tirelessly joined us searching the roadsides and trails, donning muck boots to walk steep ravines in the pouring rain and bushwhacked blackberry thickets on their own property. One dear soul carried hot dogs with her as she searched, scattering bits in case a hungry Bella happened to come across them. Or if not Bella, she told me, another dog in need.

I’ve witnessed this giving of oneself repeatedly enough to know it is not the exception, rather the normal Island offering — reflecting the values we hold and the commitment we carry to pitch in when help is needed.

And once again, help is needed.

Recent economic times have brought an increase in dogs needing assistance from Vashon Island Pet Protectors. As a result, the organization urgently needs help sheltering the friendly dogs in its care.

With this, I would like to ask the community to join me in stepping up to help a dog in need by volunteering to provide a short-term dog foster home for a VIPP dog. Fostering is easy, with veterinary care and food provided. And it’s rewarding. Where else can such a simple act make such a tremendous difference in a life?

The dogs needing foster care are those who have been lost and have no human friend who cares enough to come looking. The ones abandoned and left behind, the hungry and the hurt. Full of faith and perseverance, they live each day waiting for a warm lap to lay a weary head on. For a life better than the one before.

Here are a just few examples of the dogs needing the community’s help.

Luke is a full-of-love retriever grieving the loss of his home and his lifelong dog friend. Confused and heartbroken, he needs someone to stroke his head and tell him everything will be OK.

Allie is a year-old brindle beauty. A few months back, while still a gangly pup, she was inches away from being euthanized in a high-kill shelter after using up allotted kennel time. Until she finds her forever home, she needs someone to foster her to let her know the world is not always such a cold place. That tennis balls and toys — not cement walls and sharp needles — should be a part of every dog’s life.

And then there’s Charlie, a senior shepherd mix who loves to fetch. Left behind after a foreclosure, he came to VIPP requiring emergency surgery. He needs a foster home with quiet healing space and someone to help him know he will not be left behind ever again.

Yes, volunteering to provide foster care sometimes means making slight changes in your life or home. It may mean finding dog hair on your coat or that another other pooch in the house is asked to share the dog bed. It may mean wearing a raincoat and actually walking outside. There might be a muddy paw finding its way to the floor, but that’s what old towels are for — and honestly, was the floor really that clean to begin with in a Northwest winter? And it will mean giving of yourself and a bit of your time. But all in all, these are small sacrifices to make in helping a lost or forgotten dog transition to a better place.

As someone who has fostered, I realize opening your heart can seem hard, knowing you can’t help every dog in need. But by fostering, you help the one right in front of you. And, as it has wisely been said, it is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Instead, always do what you can. Fostering is something we all can do.

Our Isabelle is lost forever. However, there are many Island dogs waiting to be found by new homes. They need your help to get there.

For more information on how to become a foster home, call VIPP at 567-5222 or send an e-mail to dogs@vipp.org.