February and March are busy months for organizations on the Island looking for money. Taking place today at the Community Center at Mercer View is the ‘Giving from the Heart’ Breakfast, which benefits Mercer Island Youth and Family Services and ensures that the good works conducted on behalf of Islanders for those in need will continue. But there is more. The Boys & Girls Club will soon be holding a phone-a-thon to raise money for its projects and programs, and the Mercer Island Schools Foundation is gearing up for its annual Business Breakfast next month. High school music boosters are looking to raise money to replace the threadbare uniforms for the marching band. St. Monica has been conducting an annual drive to support its school, and the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church has been asking its congregants to dig deeper to keep programs and staff funded at the church for the coming year. All of these groups, and many more not listed here, aim to enrich and protect the lives of children and families. They all want and need our money.

But perhaps left out of this discussion is the health of the business community in this town. We ask businesses daily here to help out. Local businesses, whether they are in the Town Center or a home office, are essential to the tax base of the Island — directly and indirectly supporting everything from public works, parks, streets, social services and more.

Businesses here make a concerted effort to do right by the community: lending parking spaces for events; letting everyone from food banks to Girl Scouts collect contributions from their front doors; donating food, drink and expertise to Island organizations; employing youth, and giving what they can to worthy causes.

The economic recovery that we all hope for depends in large part on small businesses. Let’s remember them in these tough times.

If they prosper, we all prosper.