Causecast

Originally posted by Diane Herbst, Tonic.

Mimi Ausland, the junior-high-schooler who invented Freekibble.com, is personally responsible for feeding thousands of dogs and cats in shelters across America. Today, there’s an easy way for you to help her do even more.

When she was a toddler, Mimi Ausland loved animals so much her parents called her Dr. Doolittle. At her home in Bend, Oregon, Mimi rescued injured birds and fish, even spiders. At the age of seven, told she was too young to work at the local Humane Society, Mimi started mailing spare change to the shelter. “She just has this huge heart and it plays out with animals,” says her father, Kelly, 48. “She’s always been protective and passionate about animals.”

In 2008, Mimi, now thirteen, shared her passion with the world in a big way, developing an online trivia game called Freekibble.com and FreekibbleKat.com with the help of her mom and dad. Players answer one question about dogs, another about cats, and whether right or wrong, 10 pieces of kibble per question are donated to a shelter by a holistic pet food maker.

In fact, if you play today (Feb. 5), five times the amount of kibble will be raised per question.

How much pet food could actually be raised 10 bits at a time, you ask?

Since its start on April 1, 2008, Freekibble.com has donated more than 400,000 pounds of dog and cat food. The organization is the sole supplier of food for 14 shelters across the country. Another 60 rescues have received tens of thousands of pounds of huge one-time donations. An average of 45,000 people visit the site daily. “It’s so cool, it’s really exciting,” says Mimi, a seventh grader. “I knew it was important that I did something for others.”

Scores of financially-strapped animal welfare organizations are grateful. The day after hurricane Fay hit South Florida in August 2008 and destroyed most of the food at Sanctuary Animal Refuge in Clewiston, Mimi contacted the rescue and asked if they needed food. “When I got her email, all I could do was cry,” says sanctuary founder Palena Dorsey. “It was like heaven had opened and the hand of God touched my heart.”

For Mimi, success has increased her awareness of a dire need: hundreds of shelters have now contacted her. “I just got another email from a shelter asking for food,” she says. “I would love to feed all of them.”

Read the full post on Tonic.

Photo by Hamed Saber, flickr.