A few years ago, Keith Webster visited his local shelter. There he found his best friend, a Jack Russell he named Nedley. “When I got him in the car for the very first time he crawled on my lap and he laid his head on my hand for the long trip on the road,” writes Keith in his winning Kibble Krusaders Kontest essay. “I feel so happy that when I went to the Humane society I got to look at two little eyes looking straight back at me.”

Keith, a 12-year-old from Alderton, Washington, found his beloved Nedley at the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County, the largest shelter in the state, which, thanks to the sixth grader’s essay received $1,000 worth of Halo Dinner Party for their more than 100 dogs and 60 cats. “I was just writing,” says Keith, “from my heart.”

That was evident to Mimi Ausland, 13, the founder of freekibble.com who picked Keith’s essay out of almost 500 entries as one of the five winners. “You could tell it came from his heart,” says Mimi. “It was really genuine.” Click here to read Keith’s entire essay.

Marguerite Richmond, development director of the Tacoma Humane Society, agrees. “When I read his essay, it was so genuine,” she says, “and it reminded me how important animals are to kids.”

The homeless dogs and cats at the shelter certainly appreciate Keith’s thoughtful gift. “They seem to like (the treats) alot,” says Richmond. “Any little boost they can get is helpful, it’s a stressful environment in the shelter, and good nutrition is helpful when they are under stress.”

At home, Keith lives not only with Nedley, but a cat and a cockatiel. But Nedley is the center of his world. “I play with Ned every day of my life because I care about him so much,” he writes in his Krusaders essay. “Sometimes I spend all weekend just us together and as I type this I am holding him.”

Keith loves helping animals, and may one day become a veterinarian. “It feels pretty good to win,” he says. “Dogs need care and stuff.”

“There are two types of people in the world, passive and active,” says Jessica Harris, head of adoptions at a Louisiana shelter, “passive who want to know what their community can do for them, and your active people wonder what they can do to better their community.”

Emma Foster, 13, is one of those active people.

Emma, a winner of Freekibble.com’s Kibble Krusaders Kontest, where kids were asked to write why their shelter was special, won $1,000 worth of Halo Dinner Party for Harris’s shelter, the St. Tammany Parish Humane Society in Covington. “I feel like I’ve actually done something that will contribute to the animals that people don’t usually think about,” says Emma, an eighth grader from Abita Springs. “I felt like a guardian angel when I got the email (that she won). They deserved some love, just like people do.”

In her essay to Freekibble.com founder Mimi Ausland, Emma writes of adopting her family dog Peppi — who she calls the “best dog we’ve had” — and how the shelter was inundated with pets following Hurricane Katrina, pets who still — after five years — need a loving home. “Most of the animals lost in Katrina were people’s pets, not strays… because of this, most of them were older, and are no longer wanted,” she writes. “STPHS does their hardest to make these pets feel like they are still loved, even if nobody wants them.” Click here to read Emma’s entire essay.

Emma herself has four dogs including Peppi, a chihuahua-papillon mix. “I don’t think he’s a dog, I think he’s a gremlin,” she says, laughing. “He is really cute.” She also has about seven cats, and plans on volunteering at the STPHS to earn service hours for school. Despite her love of animals, Emma plans on becoming a medical examiner, thanks to the hit TV show C.S.I.

Mimi received almost 500 Kibble Krusader entries, and picked Emma’s for its sincerity. “She put a personal note in there, that she got the best dog ever to her,” Mimi says. “You can tell that she took awhile to write it, and I love the hurricane Katrina part. This one stood out, it was a little more personal and I appreciated that.”

As does Harris. The STPHS has, on average, 100 dogs and 50 cats at a time. Harris says that the shelter pets “absolutely love” the Halo Dinner Party on their food, and she is sure they are grateful to Emma. “To write an essay to help their humane society goes above and beyond,” says Harris, “to put herself out there with the incentive to help the animals, not to help herself but to help the animals.”

Mimi Ausland, the tween rescue star and founder of Freekibble.com wrote about the wonderful Halo-sponsored Kibble Krusader Kontest on Petco’s blog.

Get the Scoop here (you have to read 12-year-old Keith Webster’s winning entry, one of five to win $1,000 worth of Halo Dinner Party for their favorite animal shelter).

Eight year old Spencer Paige and his shelter dog Cuddles made the news after the boy’s entry was selected among five winners in the Halo-sponsored Kibble Krusaders Kontest run by Freekibble.com. We think there’s no better news to report than a young person working to help protect animals! His essay secured a $1,000 Halo donation for the Glynn County Animal Services in Florida.

See the whole story from our News page.

Thirteen year old Mimi Ausland of Freekibble.com has been at it again – inspiring young people to make a difference for animals! This time, she created a “Kontest” for kids to nominate their local animal shelters for a donation of Halo Dinner Party. “I think this contest is a great way for kids to get involved with making a difference for their local animal shelter and it shows that kids really care!”, says Mimi.

We thought Halo Dinner Party was a perfect prize for a shelter because homeless animals are often in a state of stress, with highly variable or mediocre diets. And nothing improves a pet’s meal more than a sprinkle of pure chicken, salmon or beef protein!

Well, 335 kids from 44 states and Canada wrote in with amazing stories about hundreds of very special animal shelters. As you can imagine, it was very difficult for our friends at Freekibble to choose! But I think you’ll agree that the winners are just wonderful. We’re very proud to support these five great shelters based on the kids’ testimonials:

Humane Society of Tacoma, Tacoma, Washington
Nominated by Keith Webster, Age 12

St. Tammany Parish Humane Society. Covington, Louisiana
Nominated by Emma Foster, Age 13

SafeHaven Humane Society. Albany, Oregon
Nominated by Alexa Wirfs, Age 14

Glynn County Animal Services. Brunswick, Georgia
Nominated by Spencer Paige, Age 8

Homeless Animal Rescue Team (H.A.R.T.). Cumberland, Maine
Nominated by Max Christian, Age 13

We’ll post one of the winners’ stories here every week for the next five weeks. Of course, you are welcome to peek at all of them on the Freekibble Kibble Krusaders page.

First up, here is our youngest winner, Spencer Paige, age 8, writing about Glynn County Animal Services in Brunswick, Georgia:

I found my first dog there. His name is Cuddles. I named him Cuddles because he was a furball when he was a baby. If it had not been for our Animal Shelter I would not have Cuddles. He makes me feel good when I come home from school.

I think Cuddles is a lifesaver for me. Sometimes when I come home from school, I feel kinda sad and tired. Cuddles is there to greet me with slobbery kisses and a happy wagging tail.

My shelter is special to me because they keep dogs like Cuddles safe and feed them until they get adopted to families like mine. The people there keep their kennels clean and dry in the dog area. In the cat area of the shelter they keep the cats warm and safe until they get adopted. All the shelter people wear nice clean uniforms all the time and make sure all the animals get fed the perfect amount of food to be happy while they’re staying for their short stay in the shelter.

Maybe more people need to visit their animal shelter to find a lifesaver like Cuddles. I think shelter animals know they are special and that they can give love and kindness to a person as much as a person can give food and shelter and love to them.

Thank you and I hope I win food for the animals at my shelter.