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Downers Grove, IL —
About a year ago, then-9-year-old Bodie Wheaton decided she wanted to donate money to a charity.
She said the idea struck her when she was visiting a cat shelter and rescue organization in La Grange Park called Catnap from the Heart.
“When I was at Catnap, I really thought that they might need more money for like, food and stuff, and I thought it would be a good idea,” said Bodie, who is now 10 years old.
So with no steady source of income and no experience with fundraising, she began storing away her money.
"She just decided she's well taken care of and she wanted to do something for a charity," said her mother, Angel Martin.
At first, Martin was not convinced her daughter would be able to commit to saving money for a charity.
"Just because she's so young. ... It seems like really fun, the idea of, 'Yeah, I'm going to collect $100 and donate it,’” Martin said. “That was really hard for her to do.”
But by Easter last year, Bodie was already halfway to her $100 goal.
"That's when I'm like, ‘Oh, she's not kidding,’" Martin said.
Bodie would save a portion of any money she ever received as gifts.
“Some of it was chores and birthday money, Christmas money. Stuff like that that,” Bodie said.
Last month, when Bodie was visiting with her aunt, she told her she was only $3 away from the big $100. So, Bodie’s aunt gave her the final few bucks.
"(My daughter) was out of her mind when she saw me the next day,” Martin said. “She was so excited that she finally hit her goal. I think she had me call Catnap the next day.”
Martin said she and her daughter had visited Catnap before and that choosing the organization was a way for Bodie to see her money put to work.
"She wanted to give the money to somewhere that she could actually see that they actually had a facility," Martin said. "She wanted to be able to give it to someone that works there, see where it goes."
Bodie has two cats and had visited CatNap with her mom and a friend who was interested in adopting a cat. It was Bodie’s first time there.
Now that she has saved $100 and donated it to help lost and abandoned cats, Bodie is contemplating her next move.
Though she doesn’t know what good cause she plans to undertake next, she knows she has it in her to do more good.
“Yeah, cause I kind of enjoyed trying to do it and knowing that some day, I might of done it,” she said.
About a year ago, then-9-year-old Bodie Wheaton decided she wanted to donate money to a charity.
She said the idea struck her when she was visiting a cat shelter and rescue organization in La Grange Park called Catnap from the Heart.
“When I was at Catnap, I really thought that they might need more money for like, food and stuff, and I thought it would be a good idea,” said Bodie, who is now 10 years old.
So with no steady source of income and no experience with fundraising, she began storing away her money.
"She just decided she's well taken care of and she wanted to do something for a charity," said her mother, Angel Martin.
At first, Martin was not convinced her daughter would be able to commit to saving money for a charity.
"Just because she's so young. ... It seems like really fun, the idea of, 'Yeah, I'm going to collect $100 and donate it,’” Martin said. “That was really hard for her to do.”
But by Easter last year, Bodie was already halfway to her $100 goal.
"That's when I'm like, ‘Oh, she's not kidding,’" Martin said.
Bodie would save a portion of any money she ever received as gifts.
“Some of it was chores and birthday money, Christmas money. Stuff like that that,” Bodie said.
Last month, when Bodie was visiting with her aunt, she told her she was only $3 away from the big $100. So, Bodie’s aunt gave her the final few bucks.
"(My daughter) was out of her mind when she saw me the next day,” Martin said. “She was so excited that she finally hit her goal. I think she had me call Catnap the next day.”
Martin said she and her daughter had visited Catnap before and that choosing the organization was a way for Bodie to see her money put to work.
"She wanted to give the money to somewhere that she could actually see that they actually had a facility," Martin said. "She wanted to be able to give it to someone that works there, see where it goes."
Bodie has two cats and had visited CatNap with her mom and a friend who was interested in adopting a cat. It was Bodie’s first time there.
Now that she has saved $100 and donated it to help lost and abandoned cats, Bodie is contemplating her next move.
Though she doesn’t know what good cause she plans to undertake next, she knows she has it in her to do more good.
“Yeah, cause I kind of enjoyed trying to do it and knowing that some day, I might of done it,” she said.
