These enterprising young ladies, 11-year-old Gretchen (on left) and 13-year-old Rebecca, have made helping shelter animals their mission in life. By baking and selling cookies, pet sitting, having garage sales, getting good grades, and performing their regular household chores throughout the year, these hardworking animal lovers raised $310 and donated it to the shelter recently.

Gretchen and Rebecca met as neighbors and attend Pine Tree schools, but became "soul mates" as they discovered their mutual passion for helping animals. They hope to encourage other people to get involved with helping animals and say that all their hard work is worth it because "animals need our help." They also hope to open their own animal rescue shelter some day. When asked if they are also involved in Girl Scouts, Gretchen replied, "no, we're animal scouts!" We think that may be a perfect name for their future shelter!