Every year, Abby Jones’ grandparents give her $25. And every year, she turns that money into something amazing. She does what she calls a “Pay It Forward” project by picking a cause she’s passionate about and putting her $25 toward it. This year, for her 12th birthday, she chose to raise money for PETA’s work to help animals.
Abby’s goal was to raise $1,000, but she ended up raising $1,100—wow! For her inspiring compassion toward animals, she received a Compassionate Activist Award at a PETA event in her hometown of Denver.
Her award thanks her “for her devotion to animals” and notes that she “has displayed enormous compassion by being an inspiring role model for activists of all ages—using her heart as well as her voice to make the world a far kinder place.”
Abby says that she chose to help animals through PETA for her birthday project this year because they “have just as much of a right to live happily on this planet as we do.” She continues, “I have two cats at home who I couldn’t imagine anything bad ever happening to and I wouldn’t wish anything bad happening to any animal ever.”
In the past, Abby has made breakfast for the police officers in her town and raised money for red pandas by selling snow globes that she made. We can’t wait to see what she does next year!
If you want to help animals, you don’t have to raise money. You can stop eating them, buy cruelty-free products, adopt an animal, volunteer to read to animals at your local shelter, pledge not to dissect, boycott places that keep animals in captivity, attend a circus protest, or come up with another great way of your own.
Under 13? Ask your parents bee-fore you continue!