Kristina D’Amato aimed to spend the rest of summer raising funds for unfortunate animals but the nine-year-old almost reached her €2,000 target to foot the monthly food bill of a sanctuary less than 24 hours after her story appeared in Times of Malta on Wednesday.
Within a few hours of its publication in the newspaper, donations started flying in, and by the end of the day, almost €1,500 had been collected for The Island Sanctuary in Delimara – a cause the young animal ‘activist’ is passionate about.
Her astonished parents scrambled to set up her Zaar fundraising page when they realised the interest sparked by the story was “out of control” and information on how to donate was being constantly requested.
By Friday, Kristina had raised just over €2,100.
Kristina’s already strong motivation has shot through the roof, said her father Anthony, and a mini production line started to form as other children read the story of the girl who took the initiative to raise funds for stray dogs by selling bracelets and bookmarks she designed from car parks, at the beach and the Sliema front.
“We received photos of other children who took up the cause and spent the afternoon creating their own jewellery to sell and raise money,” said her mother Rebecca, who was overwhelmed by the “huge boost”, the heartfelt messages and the power of the media.
Referring to the “snowball effect”, she said TV presenter and animal activist Moira Delia also contacted Kristina to interview her next week, with the cause taking an unexpected life of its own.
Even Kristina’s headmaster offered San Anton School’s support, e-mailing her to praise the initiative to find creative ways to help, saying: “It is people like you who can help to make the world a better place.”
It has given her a target for winter, said Kristina, adding that “he really encouraged me to do more”.
Her dream has come true, she said. “I did not know people would be so kind and I am so happy not just about the donations for the dogs, but also the encouraging messages.
“I was so impressed that even people I did not know were donating,” she said.
Kristina also expressed her gratitude in particular to her friends Sophie Zammit, Ella Westwood and Sienna Meli, who helped her in the making and selling “because I am a bit shy to do it alone”.
Next up is a fundraising event at her parents’ home, and calculations have already been made by the newly set-up Animal Charity Club on how much money they can raise and in what way.
“We’ll have an entrance fee of €5 and we can raise another €100 in a few hours,” Kristina said excitedly.