TORONTO -- An 11-year-old Ontario boy raises money for rescue animals every year on his birthday, and has raised more than $40,000 in the last four years.
Mississauga resident Will Finch told CTV's Your Morning he started the fundraising initiative after losing his first puppy.
"I've always loved animals, but I really wanted a dog," Will explained in an interview on Monday.
"When I was seven years old, my parents got me my first rescue puppy Karma, and鈥� she sadly died from the parvovirus," he added.
Will says losing Karma was "heartbreaking," but said he later decided to "turn that hurt into love" by raising money for other rescue animals.
"For my eighth birthday, in lieu of birthday gifts, all I wanted was money and supplies for a local dog rescue," Will said. "When I donated it, I got to feel the love and see the dogs and it inspired me to do more."
Since then, Will and his 17-year-old sister Jada Finch have put on presentations about rescue animals, hosted bake sales, as well as collected and donated pet supplies to local rescue shelters.
Jada says she has a truck they use to help coordinate pickups and drop offs of pet supplies.
"My brother, he has a lot of big goals so that's where I come in," Jada said Monday. "I get to do a lot of the heavy lifting and we use my truck to bring dog food, crates and scratching posts to our local rescues, and we really get to see the dogs and the cats be happy."
She explained that the goal of Good Will Good Karma is to "get people to feel how good it is to give" to rescues.
Jada said they like to work with local rescue shelters as they get to see the impact of their efforts on the animals and their community.
Jada says she and Will also help the rescue animals find their forever homes.
"We have fosters -- they're the people who take care of the pets until we can find their forever homes -- and Will and I are the kids who test to see if the dogs and cats are good with kids, because that's really important for families who are looking to adopt to know," Jada said.
Will also volunteers his time as a cat cuddler and dog walker with local initiatives in Mississauga.
Will says he loves animals and wishes he could spend all of his time rescuing them. He added that he also plans to become a veterinarian.
"I want to rescue animals 24/7 so I was thinking about being a vet and then having a lot of property, and a lot of animals," Will said.
Jada also plans on continuing to help her community in the future.
"I'm thinking about being a firefighter because, especially with that schedule, it allows me a lot of time to still do charity work, and I really want to make a difference in the community," she said.
Will celebrated his 11th birthday on Sunday, and his birthday fundraiser this year goes until Jan. 14. Those looking to donate to Good Will Good Karma can do so .
