Carmen Landry is just 11 years old, but she has displayed dedication and determination far beyond her years.
The Grade 6 student has been donating her time and money to helping pets for the past two years.
Carmen has been supporting a small cat shelter in Middle Sackville, N.S. since she was nine years old. The shelter, called TAPA - Taking Action and Protecting Animals - is in its seventh year.
“We’ve taken in or helped over 600 cats in that time,” says shelter owner Angela Miller.
The shelter and the work they do has inspired Carmen to help animals.
“When I’m older, I want to have a cat shelter like this,” says Carmen. “Even if they don't get adopted, they still give them a warm home, food, water, and lots of friends.”
Carmen is such a dedicated supporter of the shelter, she has even celebrated two birthday parties there.
“Instead of presents I asked for cat food, dry food, wet food, water, blankets, all kinds of toys for them,” says Carmen.
“She pretty much filled this room because her parties kept getting bigger and they kept on bringing more and more donations,” says Angela.
Carmen doesn’t just spend her time helping animals, she also gives to the food bank and the IWK Health Centre. Carmen has a sense of volunteerism that, according to her mother, is contagious.
“It kind of started this grass roots movement among her friends that are very excited about helping others,” says Carmen’s mother Shari.
Carmen says her reason for giving back to the shelter is simple - she loves cats.
“I think cats deserve the same as humans,” says Carmen. “I think they deserve health, water, food, and a roof - all the things that we deserve.”
Congratulations to Carmen Landry, our Maritimer of the Week!
If you know someone deserving of our Maritimer of the Week award, we want to hear about it.
It doesn’t matter how old they are, the nature of the good deed they’ve done, or what part of the region they live in – we want your ideas!
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Maritimer of the Week
P.O. Box 1653
Halifax, N.S.
B3J 2Z4
