I can’t remember what I wanted for my ninth birthday, but I’m sure that it was expensive and self-indulgent. Probably something like a new bike or a videogame console. Whatever it was, I’m pretty certain that Ethan Katz’s birthday wishes this year put me to shame. Instead of the latest in technological goodies, Ethan wanted to save dogs.
Ethan turned nine on May 29 of this year, and he wanted to raise money for his favorite charity, the Washington, D.C.-based City Dogs Rescue. So, in order to do that, he designed t-shirts to sell online through Booster.com. As of today, he has sold 366 shirts and raised $6,760 for the organization. I don’t know exactly how many dogs that allows the group to rehome and rescue, but as of last week, City Dogs Rescue said it had been able to rescue 10 dogs because of Ethan’s fundraising.
Ethan himself has two rescue dogs: Brooklyn and Fly. Brooklyn came into the family from City Dogs Rescue in November. This was Ethan’s inspiration for his birthday fundraiser.
“Since I started fostering my dog Brooklyn, I came up with the idea to do something off of that,” he said in an interview with The Huffington Post.
“Ethan is so excited to see his campaign take off and we are thrilled to help CDR get some national attention for the hard and selfless work that they and their team of volunteers do,” said his mother, Lisa.
Any way you cut it, that’s a very impressive way for a nine-year-old to celebrate his birthday, and in fact, beyond. It’s a month later, and Ethan is still selling shirts and saving dogs. Want to try one yourself? They come in kid and adult sizes, and judging from some of the pictures on City Dogs Rescue’s site, look quite stylish on the dogs themselves.
Congratulations to Ethan and his family, and we hope that he has many more birthdays as notable as this one. If you want one of Ethan’s shirts for yourself, order it here. And check out the video below for Ethan’s own words about his project.
Via KTLA, Booster, and Huffington Post
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