Six-year-old Carly has stood outside selling lemonade every Saturday for the past two months to raise money. But she’s not doing this to buy herself some candy or a new toy—she’s raising the money to help save animals’ lives!

After watching a video her grandma sent her about animals in fires being saved with oxygen masks, Carly was really sad thinking about other ones dying in fires and knew she had to help—and what better way to do that than by raising money for animal rescue kits, which she’s donating to her local fire department?!

Through her lemonade stand, she’s raised enough money to purchase three rescue kits. Plus, the pastor of the church where she sets up her stand has offered to donate five kits, and her parents are going to donate two. This means that she’ll be able to give a total of 10 rescue kits to the fire department to help save the lives of animals who have inhaled too much smoke and need help breathing.

Let’s learn more about Carly and what drove her to want to be loud for animals. Here’s what she has to say:

Q: What inspired you to want to help animals?

A: Our dog Cocoa, who came from a shelter. Her old family didn’t want her anymore, and that made me sad. But we took her home, and now she’s spoiled. And my mom helped me have a supply drive so we could take stuff up to the shelter so they can keep helping more animals.

Q: How did you come up with the idea to have a lemonade stand?

A: I’ve always thought about doing a lemonade stand, and this was just a perfect reason to do it.

Q: Has there been a lot of support from the community?

A: Yes! My mom and dad, my whole family, my pastor and my church, and a bunch of other people came and bought lemonade and gave extra money for the kits.

Q: What are some other ways kids can help animals, and do you have any advice for them?

A: You could raise money to buy them food, because there are a lot of hungry animals. Or you could volunteer at a shelter. There are a lot of ways you can help animals. My advice is just to do something, even if it’s something little, because my mom says little things add up and everything you do can make a big difference.

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Because of Carly’s super-compassionate attitude, we’re so happy to congratulate her on her hard work and give her a Hero to Animals award. And we hope that her go-getter attitude and commitment to helping animals in need inspire you to want to speak up and take action for them, too!

Not sure where to start? Check out these 10 easy ways to help animals.