In October, the Wareham community rallied to help Michele and Kevin Traver raise thousands of dollars to secure a service dog for their son, Shane, who suffers from autism.

The family needed to raise a $5,000 donation for the North Star Foundation (www.NorthStarDogs.com), a Connecticut nonprofit which breeds and partners service dogs with children who face social, emotional, and educational challenges. More than half of the children helped by the foundation have autism, a developmental disorder affecting communication and social skills.

The Travers received such an overwhelming response from community members who wanted to help, they were able to obtain a puppy for Shane, now four years old, from the first available litter, as well as cover the cost of certifying the dog for full public access, meaning Shane will eventually be able to take the pup everywhere he goes. The community helped raise roughly $10,000.

North Star Foundation executive director Patty Dobbs Gross said she'd never seen such an outpouring of support from a community.

“You know how they say it takes a village to raise a child? Well, to raise a child with autism, that's never been more true. It really takes villagers to get together and decide that the child is to be embraced, not just tolerated," Gross said. “Every child deserves to be embraced by their community and I think that's what happened here.”

Shane's pooch, named Jake, was born in December. Gross is currently training the eight-week-old pup and his litter-mates.

The Travers are extremely excited for the pup to join the family and thankful for the community's help.

"Every time [Shane] sees a dog now, he calls it 'Jake,'" Michele said.

After Gross completes Jake's preliminary training, which will be when the pup is about four months old, he will move to a transition family closer to the Travers so that Shane and Jake can bond while Jake receives more training. Jake will go to his permanent home when he is roughly nine months old.

Gross is currently looking for a person or family that lives in Wareham or relatively close by, so that Shane can see his puppy often. She said she's searching for someone who loves puppies and children and who has the time to devote to training and socializing the pooch. An adult who works from home, is a stay-at-home parent, or has a part-time job would be ideal, Gross said.

If you are interested in becoming a transition family or if you know someone who can help, e-mail Gross at northstarfoundation@charter.net.

Gross also shared more good news. Since the Wareham community helped the Traver family exceed its fundraising goal, Gross said she was able to help a Somerset family raise funding to train its service dog, Percy, for full public access. Percy also assists a child with autism.

"I try to keep the donations I receive local," Gross said.

Gross thanked Wareham for helping the Traver family and the North Star Foundation.

"It's all about the community," Gross said. "It was really amazing, the support."