Kibble Me Please!
Bend, Oregon

Most seven-year old girls are interested in the latest teen heartthrob, sleepovers and whispered secrets to each other that end in giggles. And I'm sure Mimi Ausland was all of those things at seven.

With one huge distinction. She loved animals so much she began volunteering at her local humane society shelter. She wanted to volunteer at a younger age but according to Oregon law you must be at least seven years old.

If you've ever spent any time in an animal shelter you know it's not an easy place to be. But for Mimi, it was the right place. She didn't just see the needs of the shelter; Mimi experienced the need first hand.

After six years of volunteering, Mimi understood intimately the needs of shelters and rescue groups. She watched as they struggled to feed the animals they tried to save. That's when Mimi decided she wanted to do more.

After discussing it with her parents, Mimi decided she wanted to create an Internet site dedicated to feeding abandoned animals. She found a local pet food sponsor, Bend Pet Express, who agreed to donations of what Mimi called "kibbles."

She named her site freekibble.com. The purpose was to get people involved with donating food for shelter and rescue animals. But here's what's so unusual. All the visitor has to do is answer a trivia question about cats or dogs (your choice). It doesn't matter whether you get the answer right or wrong.

Either way, because you took the time to answer the question, ten pieces of "kibble" are donated to shelters. Her idea took off with the public. Eventually, Bend Pet Express couldn't handle the large volume of pet food donations. Mimi had to find another sponsor.

Enter Richard Thompson of zootoo.com. He introduced Mimi to Castor & Pollux, a high-end organic and natural pet products company. Castor & Pollux loved the idea and immediately signed on as a sponsor for Free Kibble. Today this great company donates almost all of the kibble on Mimi's site.

Mimi describes Castor & Pollux as being "an awesome company." And it certainly shows! But the story just gets better for the animals.

Last Fall Mimi was invited to be on the Ellen Degeneres show to speak about her website. Ellen is part owner of Halo holistic pet food company. At the end of the show, Ellen made a large donation of Halo food to Free Kibble.

That entire donation went to support shelters and rescue operations. Palena Dorsey, a volunteer rescue worker in Florida, described what it was like to receive a large donation of food. "The last Kibble run we did, 25 rescues received Halo foods. It was unreal. Many of those rescues or shelters were out of food. Can you even imagine the impact that it made on hundreds of animals?"

Currently, Mimi has 13 shelters that regularly receive donations from Free Kibble. The site has grown so much that Mimi now has people from 133 countries answering the "Daily dose Of Kibble Karma." (Free Kibble will send you an email reminder to play if you sign up. Go to www.freekibble.com)

Mimi told us that to date freekibble.com gets between 40-60,000 people visiting the site each day. But with all this activity, you may be wondering about the girl herself. What's Mimi like? Mimi keeps up with schoolwork, plays soccer and takes care of her own brood of animals. "I have a pretty busy schedule," she tells us. "I couldn't do it without my mom and dad."

Mimi dedicates about 15-30 minutes each night to Free Kibble. And on the weekend, she and her parents have a regular Free Kibble meeting. "It's a lot of work," Mimi says. And as you can imagine, sometimes it gets frustrating trying to manage it all but Mimi insists, "It all fits in. It's not too hard. And it's definitely worth it."

Mimi is having a tremendous impact on the world. Because of her age (she's now 13), she has the ability to reach people who would not ordinarily listen to adults.

"When I talk to Mimi on the phone, it is a source of strength and inspiration for me," Palena told The Mosby Foundation. "Her heart is pure and her goals simple. She is totally committed to making a difference and walks a tough road to get to her goals."

Mimi could be out shopping with friends, hanging out and going to movies. And I'm sure her parents see to it that she has this "me" time. But her commitment is clear and strong. "The rescue world was given a great gift the day that Mimi made that commitment," Palena said.

And her parents are to be commended for honoring their daughter's wisdom at such a young age. Palena is right. There is no one great person doing rescue work. It takes a lot of great people to make one person look good.

BUT…there is Mimi Ausland. "I will and have made the exception with Mimi. She is one GREAT person who now has enabled others to become great."

Yes, the rescue world has been blessed with Mimi's dedication as well as her resolve to help her country's abandoned animals. And as generous as that blessing is, there is a larger gift at work here.

The gift is Mimi herself. Through her actions and her parents' support, she has shown all of us hope for the future. Her voice is being heard around the world through freekibble.com. And the animals desperately need that.

Mimi has shown us that wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. We're all gifted with wisdom. Mimi just chose to tune in to hers earlier than most. That still quiet voice is now a voice being heard around the world.