i’m doing a survey of online youth civic engagement initiatives and i came across this:

Pennies to Protect Police Dogs

Eleven year-old Stacey Hillman started Pennies to Protect Police Dogs in March of 2000 after reading an article about police dogs and their dangerous jobs. The article told the story of a police dog that had been shot on the job and mentioned that there were special bulletproof vests for police dogs. Unfortunately, the vests are very expensive and most police departments cannot afford them. Over the past few years, Pennies to Protect Police Dogs has raised over $255,000 and has outfitted over 375 K-9 dogs with bulletproof vests. Stacey’s goal is to ensure that every police dog has a bulletproof vest.

it made me smile. i was talking today with cara about how kids are evil to each other in elementary school. but an adult would never think of a charity like this. maybe kids are more compassionate in a way. maybe adults are really just as evil, but know how to hide it better. and hiding the evil hides the compassion too.

other orgs started by kids: http://www.idealist.org/kt/youthorgs.html