A Girl Who Loves Animals
When Abbi Hickman was just a little girl, she made friends with many animals. Chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, and sometimes goats were just some of the animals she cared for. At the age of nine, Abbi went to the Tracy Animal Centre to adopt (收养) Sheldon, her cat. In the centre, she saw that the animals did not have enough food and they lived in poor conditions. Abbi knew that she must do something to help those animals.
For the last three years, she has held different activities to collect money for the Tracy Animal Centre. She has collected more than $ 30,000 resulting in a better home for the animals. "The centre gets the money and pays for the vet (兽医) care and food. It's nicer and they have more space. It's cleaner. It is far better, a hundred percent better," Abbi says.
To show Abbi has done something excellent to protect animals, she was named the 2015 ASPCA (美国防止虐待动物协会) Kid of the Year.
"I was pretty excited. I'm really happy to receive it," she says.
Offering time and effort to help animals can sometimes be difficult, but Abbi hopes to do more. "I just hope that more people can come and join us. If more pcople can give money to the programme, we can help more animals. 1 really hope people are kinder to animals and respect them more," says Abbi. She is also working on "welcome home boxes" for the Tracy Animal Centre. These boxes of pet supplies (宠物用品) would go home with everyone adopting a dog or a cat at the centre.
The advice she has for kids like her is, "Nothing is impossible. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Even if it is something small, it can make a huge difference." Abbi's work has made the lives of animals better, and she plans to keep coming up with new ways to help them.
