The beginning
BFP started as all great things do—on a whim. Two ladies, Kelsey Graupner and Lauren Cabrera, barely knew each other, but fate (and a Facebook dog group) had other plans. Kelsey saw Lauren asking for mange advice and reached out, "Hi, you don’t know me, but, don't let the mange dog near your baby." Lauren’s response? "Thanks! Hey.. are you the girl who flew a rescue dog off the island?"
And boom. It was like a match made in boonie dog heaven. Fast forward a month, and these two were miraculously loading 25 dogs onto a plane to their forever homes across the U.S.—all thanks to the heroic efforts of superstar pet shipper, Lisa Meador, Animal Travel Agent Extraordinaire.
Around this time came Stephanie DeForge, a marketing wizard and ball of energy, who took one look at this madness and said, "Yeah, I’m in." She slapped a brand on it, built a website, and automated things like some sort of digital sorcerer. It was like watching magic happen.
Over time, life happened and volunteers phased out as people left the island, but there’s one constant: the legendary Mary Stinson. She adopted two boonies from our second flight and has been the behind-the-scenes BFP MVP ever since—hand-making merch, coordinating adoptions, and supporting us all the way from Kansas (and now California!). She’s basically been the glue holding us together from thousands of miles away, and we love her for it.
Honorable mention goes to Sam, our vet friend who fostered around 100 puppies with her dorky golden retriever Andy and boonie dog (or pomeranian?) Kevin. She not only answers our silly questions but also listens to our craziness at all hours of the day. Thanks, Sam! Come back!
a shift in focus
618 dogs in 3.5 years. On islands with no regular access to pet shipping, thanks to decisions made by a giant corporation monopolizing the region. Against all odds, we did it. But let’s be real—it wasn’t without sweat, tears, dirt, pee, poop, ticks, mange, and, yes, sometimes even blood.
Kelsey, Steph, and Lauren lived and breathed BFP for three years. It was a full-time, 24/7 job—minus the paycheck. We hustled hard to save as many animals as we could, and honestly? We crushed it. All while juggling motherhood, babies, and work like absolute rockstars.
Now, Kelsey and Steph are working at GAIN. They won’t be around forever (military spouse life, you know how that goes), but we’re soaking up every moment we’ve got with them and trying to figure out how things can function sustainably.
Meanwhile, Lauren’s over on Saipan, juggling about a thousand things in her work in Animal Health. She runs the BFP social media these days —so, yeah, things can get a bit... chaotic. But you guys are here for it, and we love you for that!
Kelsey and Steph are focusing on making sustainable changes before their time on Guam is up, and (fingers crossed) Lauren will be heading to vet school next fall. Of course, we’ll still fly a dog or two or three.. or four.. here and there, you know, just for fun...
but UNTIL MORE FLIGHT OPTIONS open up in a more sustainable way, we cannot fly dogs like we used to.
Want to adopt? Visit GAIN to see who is available and watch our social media.