Ruthe_Tribute

Ruthe Ashcraft was a longtime friend and supporter of Foster Pet Outreach. A champion of the animals, she recognized the dignity, worth, and quality of all animals, and believed in the importance of providing a better life for them. To honor this wonderful person, every year the Ruthe Ashcraft Award is given to a person who exemplifies Ruthe's generous qualities as a friend and advocate of all animals.

This year's winner is Michelle Kosner. Just graduated from Bradley University, this outstanding young lady has volunteered with Foster Pet Outreach since she came to town four years ago. Michelle is responsible for most of the wonderful photos of our foster pets. She also gives hours each week to answering voice mail calls. Michelle's true passion is training dogs to help the handicapped. She takes in abandoned dogs, and rehabilitates them to assist in everyday needs of handicapped individuals. Michelle has founded her own group: Paws Giving Independence. If Michelle can accomplish this much at such a young age, imagine what she'll do in the future!! Thank you, Michelle, for all you do to help homeless animals and your fellow man!

Proud Mom Donna accepts the award for Michelle.

I wanted to thank Foster Pet Outreach for the honor of being given the Ruthe Ashcraft Award. This year has been a busy year of working to establish Paws Giving Independence and finishing my senior year at Bradley. I have always had a passion for animal rescue and I am a firm believer in the quality of animals that can be found in animal shelters. In my four years working with you, I have met so many great animals and many wonderful people I know will be lifelong friends.

Foster Pet Outreach has been like a family to me from when I first came to Bradley University as a freshman. I had volunteered for four years with a no kill shelter in Chicago and wanted to find a similar organization to volunteer with here. Fortunately, someone told me about Foster Pet Outreach. Foster Pet Outreach helped me every step of the way and provided me with rides to take pictures when I didn’t have a car. I was grateful for their support. Claire’s husband even fixed my car for me.

This year I have started Paws Giving Independence. We are a nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from animal shelters and trains them to be service dogs to assist people in a wheelchair. The dogs learn many commands including how to turn on lights, open a door, pick up a dropped item and more. I did my first presentation to Foster Pet Outreach and you all were so welcoming and supportive. We were very nervous, but you made us feel right at home and the information you had on the website helped us get information out to more people and we got additional applications. You even gave us our first public donations.

Without the support of Foster Pet Outreach and the skills about animal rescued I have learned from all of you, I would not be able to achieve this. You take such wonderful care of the animals and are careful when placing the animals in the home. I learned what I need to watch for when placing my dogs with families. The health and welfare of the dogs are just as important with service dogs.

I apologize for not being able to attend the meeting tonight but I had previous engagement in Chicago. I am so honored to accept this award and I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for the support of FPO. I look forward to many more years working with Foster Pet Outreach.

Thank you, Michelle Kosner

"Dog Heaven" is a tribute to Foxy Lady, Ruthe's a courageous little friend who died of cancer in 2003. Foxy was cared for by Bev, Ruthe's wonderful friend and Foster Pet Outreach member, after Ruthe passed away. Bev felt this tribute was fitting for anyone who has lost a friend.

If you have ever been lucky enough to have a special dog in your life, then you know there is a place called Dog Heaven.

When dogs go to Heaven, they don’t need wings because God knows that Dogs love running best. He gives them fields. Fields and fields and fields. When a dog first arrives in Heaven he just runs. Dog Heaven has clear, wide lakes filled with geese who honk and flap and tease. The dogs love this. They run beside the water and bark and bark and God watches them from behind a tree and smiles. There are children, of course – Angel children. God knows that dogs love children more than anything else in the world, so he fills Dog Heaven with plenty of them. There are children on bikes and children on sleds. There are children throwing red rubber balls and children pulling kites through the clouds. The dogs are there, and the children love them dearly. And, oh, the dog biscuits. Biscuits and biscuits as far as the eye can see. God has a sense of humor, so he makes His biscuits in funny shapes for His dogs. There are kitty-cat biscuits and squirrel biscuits. Ice-cream biscuits and ham-shaped biscuits. Every angel who passes by has a biscuit for a dog. And, of course, all God’s dogs sit when angels say “sit.” Every dog becomes a good dog in Dog Heaven. God turns clouds inside out to make fluffy beds for the dogs in Dog Heaven, and when they are tired from running and barking and eating ham-sandwich biscuits, the dogs each find a cloud bed for sleeping. They turn around and around in the cloud…until it feels just right, and then they curl up and they sleep. God watches over each one of them and there are no bad dreams. Dogs in Dog Heaven have almost always belonged to somebody on Earth and, of course, the dogs remember this. Heaven is full of memories. So sometimes an angel will walk a dog back to Earth for a little visit and quietly, invisible, the dog will sniff about his old backyard, will investigate the cat next door, will follow the child to school, will sit on the front porch and wait for the mail. When he is satisfied that all is well, the dog will return to Heaven with the angel. It is where dogs belong, near God who made them. The dogs in Dog Heaven who had no real homes on Earth are given one in Heaven. The homes have yards and porches and there are couches to lie on and tables to sit under while angels eat their dinners. There are special bowls with the dogs’ names on them. And each dog is petted and reminded how good he is, all day long. Dogs in Dog Heaven may stay as long as they like and this can mean forever. They will be there when old friends show up. They will be there at the door. Angel dogs.