Enterprising Teen Feeds Thousands of Cats and Dogs, Ten Kibbles at a Time

Are you familiar with freekibble.com? If you aren’t, you should be! The site, along with its sister site freekibblekat, is the brainchild of Mimi Ausland, an animal-loving Oregon middle school student who simply wanted to help out her local animal shelter. It’s a simple concept, too — answer a trivia question every day, and the site automatically donates ten pieces of kibble to animal shelters.

It may be a simple concept, but it’s one that has taken on a life of its own. Green living blog Care2 reports on Ausland, whose idea has single-handedly fed thousands of cats and dogs across the country. Though each click only yields ten pieces of kibble, they add up fast:

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 fourteen shelters across the country. Another sixty 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.”

The site takes its model from the similar freerice.com, which donates ten grains of rice to world hunger programs for every vocabulary word online players correctly identify. From there, Ausland approached local pet stores for sponsorships while her parents helped design a site. Not two years later, the site has grown exponentially — Ausland is now partnered directly with holistic pet food makers, and seeks to motivate other children to follow her lead and help their own local shelters. Now thirteen years old, Ausland has her sights set on a future with animals, and those she has worked with are sure of her future success.

She envisions one day training horses and founding an animal sanctuary similar to Best Friends in Utah, the country’s largest animal refuge.

“I can’t imagine where this little girl will go when she’s an adult,” says Lynne Ouchida of the local shelter where Mimi first sent the coins she collected for strays. “Whatever she sets her heart to, she will accomplish it.”

Thousands of pets depend on Ausland’s endeavors, but the kibble sites depend on the support of readers like you. So if you haven’t already, click on over and start sharing some kibble today.