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One Dollar, One Shelter, One Month

August 30, 2007, 11:24AM MT

By Michele King

Nine year old girl helps launch Animal Shelter Campaign.

Nine year old girl helps launch Animal Shelter Campaign.

One Dollar, One Shelter, One Month

Posted with permission of Jodi Witte, Animal Help Foundation

Can you afford one dollar per month? Just $12 per year can help 12 animal shelters in desperate need of financial help.

The Animal Shelter Campaign was started by Animal Help Foundation in Varnville, South Carolina, with the inspiration of one little girl. Jodi Witte runs AnimalHelp.Com and works as a veterinary technician and wildlife rehabilitator. Her daughter Danielle came up with the idea for the "One Dollar, One Shelter, One Month" campaign after volunteering with Jodi at a local shelter. The campaign began in June 2007 with emails and a MySpace account to spread the word.

Danielle longed to help improve the conditions at her hometown shelter, and to help lower the euthanasia rate that is so high because of a lack of space and lack of funds for vet care. She knew that a couple hundred dollars was not going to be enough. She had to create something so big, so easy, that she could raise $100,000 for one shelter in just one month.

With a lofty goal of $100K, Danielle decided that with millions of people in the US, if 100,000 of them gave just one dollar, it could happen! With mom's help, and some internet expertise, Danielle's plan has been set in motion. Danielle is certain that this will work. She insists that even she can give a dollar each month to a different shelter, so she knows other kids and adults can do the same without a problem.

Each month, Animal Help features a different shelter in dire need of financial assistance. They ask for donations of one dollar to that shelter during that month. Your one dollar combined with other dollars will help to raise thousands for one needy shelter.

So far, only a few hundred has been raised for the first featured shelter, but Danielle is not disappointed. She realizes that it will take some time for word to get around, and she is sure that within a few months the campaign will be reaching her goals each month. Who knows, maybe one day she will get to tell the world about it on one of the morning news talk shows. Danielle is reaching for the stars to give them to the animals, and she just might do it!

This money will be used to expand shelter facilities, provide medical care for neglected and abused animals, and to subsidise spay and neuter surgeries for animals of the community.

Why Only One Dollar?

Animal Help asks for only one dollar because they know all of us can help at that amount, and a little money from a lot of people is easier to get then a lot of money from a few people.

Think of the impact your one dollar can provide...one dollar from thousands of people can raise thousands of dollars for one shelter. If you can send one dollar each month for a year, all it will cost you is $12 by the end of the year, but 12 animal shelters in desperate need of funds will benefit so much, and so will the animals and the community!

Animal Help hopes to make a huge difference to animals across this country each and every month.

Meet Danielle...

At first glance, Danielle looks like a normal nine year old - well maybe not - she prefers jeans over dresses, doesn't mind getting dirty, and she wants to change the world. Danielle is a brilliant little nine year old girl who has grown up around animals her whole life. Not only is she on the Principal's Honor Roll every report card, but she has a high school reading level, writes her own novels, and never fails to do her homework. And this is all in addition to her love of animals.

Danielle has plenty of pets of her own; a ferret named Oliver, a bob white quail she hatched from an egg, a paint pony named Chief, plenty of dogs, cats, other horses and a couple parrots too! Danielle spends plenty of time assisting mom with handraising wild orphans or bandaging injured legs and wings.

What You Can Do:

For more information visit http://www.shelters.animalhelp.com.

Donate $1 to help shelter pets in need. Donations can either be mailed directly to the featured shelter or use PayPal. 100% of every dollar donated will go directly to the featured shelter to be spent on the animals. Every shelter is a 501(c)3 Non Profit and donations are tax deductable.

Featured Shelter for July/ August 2007:
Community Animal Shelter of Hampton

Things are really rough here. It is a rural county with very little funds for the shelter. Donations are almost non-existent, but animal needs are great. People here just don't have the proper education to provide even minimum standard of care for their pets. The shelter building itself is run down, tiny, and totally inadequate for its needs.

Community Animal Shelter of Hampton
P.O. Box 1442
460 Cemetery Rd
Varnville, SC 29944

Featured Shelter for September 2007:
Animal House Jamaica

Still struggling to recover from 3 past hurricanes, this no-kill shelter has been dealt another serious blow by category 4 Hurricane Dean on August 19th. Because of the urgency of the situation, this shelter has been selected as the September Featured Shelter of the Month.

Animal House Jamaica
c/o P.O.Box 775
Ocho Rios, Jamaica WI

Comments

Posted August 30, 2007, 3:5PM by nceditor

Danielle and Jodi, you are an inspiration! Anyone can do this, and make a difference for animals who so desperately need help.

Posted September 05, 2007, 2:52PM by Potcakelover

Great idea. Please spread the word. One Dollar per month is an affordable amount. Remember "a snowball can become an avalange".

Posted September 05, 2007, 3:51PM by cattees

Wow - Danielle is awesome!

Posted September 05, 2007, 6:42PM by JLM

Danielle is a fantastic young person and such an inspiration to us all. Bless your heart young lady.

Posted September 06, 2007, 1:0PM by judylew

What a special person you are Danielle! A great idea. I hope it blossoms and blossoms. I'll be donating my one dollar a month.

Posted September 06, 2007, 3:11PM by Margaret

Great thinking, Danielle! You have a beautiful heart.

Posted December 09, 2007, 9:43AM by MissCheryl_27

What a wonderful inspiration. I cannot wait to pass this on to the local shelter folks who keep having bake sales and have yet to understand he fundraising power of the internet! Thank you, Danielle, keep up the good work!!

Cheryl

Posted September 12, 2007, 5:28PM by bluethunder1962

I wish all kids had hearts like her. This world needs them.