Karlie's Cause: 9-Year-Old Girl Uses Birthday Money to Help Animals

As children, many of us dream about "what we want to be when we grow up." More often than not, these childhood musings are long forgotten when we become adults. In the case of 9-year-old Karlie Smick, however, her childhood dream of becoming an animal rescuer seems a foregone conclusion. In fact, though she is far from "grown up" chronologically, Karlie Smick has already begun to make her mark in animal rescue.

Karlie Smick appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show on January 21^st to tell Ellen and the world about her passion for helping animals, and the selfless plan she came up with at the tender age of six.

Karlie's Cause

For the past three birthdays, Karlie Smick has asked her parents to forego getting her any presents or having a birthday party. Karlie reasoned that since her birthday fell so close to Christmas, she really didn't need any more presents, and she wasn't really a party kind of girl. Instead, Karlie asked her parents to help her do something to help the animals, and "Karlie's Cause" was born. On her seventh and eighth birthdays, Karlie raised about $500 in addition to collecting food and other essentials to help animals.

This year, for her 9^th birthday, she asked her family and friends to donate to a nonprofit pet rescue called Ziggy's Friends. What she got was a whole lot better, thanks to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Karlie's Cause received $5,000 worth of holistic pet food from Halo Purely for Pets, a company that is co-owned by DeGeneres. Karlie also got another special gift from DeGeneres -- a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

While most young girls would be giddy with the prospect of birthday party fun and presents, Karlie remains focused on her cause of helping the animals. "I have a big heart for animals, and this just makes my heart be full of joy to do this," Karlie told Ellen DeGeneres on her show.

Ellen, an animal lover herself, replied that it filled her own heart to hear of someone so young who was willing to give up their birthday presents and parties to help animals. And when Ellen asked Karlie what she wanted to be when she grew up, Karlie said without pause: "an animal rescuer."

Karlie and her parents, Chuck and Kelly Smick, have six pets in their Ohio home, including a dog, a cat and a very large tortoise named Richard (who incidentally, is a female).

Ziggy's Friends Pet Rescue

This year, all of the pet food and money raised by Karlie's Cause will go toward helping a pet rescue called Ziggy's Friends, located in Grafton, Ohio. Ziggy's Friends began their work of rescuing pets in 2005 and became an official 501(c)3 nonprofit in January 2010. Ziggy's Friends have rescued and placed more than 250 pets since their inception. They need collars, leashes, pet beds, toys, food, treats and money to pay their extensive vet bills.

In this day and age, it's so refreshing to hear of selfless children like Karlie Smick, who is willing to give up birthday presents and parties to help animals. This young girl is wise beyond her years, and I predict that this is just the beginning of the wonderful things Karlie's Cause will accomplish in the decades to come.

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http://ellen.warnerbros.com/topics/?s=Karlie+Smick

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-girl-gives-up-birthday-presents-for-animal-charity-txt,0,4008480.story