FRANKLIN CO. (WSIL) -- An 11-year-old girl from Franklin County raised more than $2,000 for a local animal shelter.
"Riley's Rescue Mission" began with Riley Tschannen and her grandmother Kim Milligan making cat and dog toys out of recycled t-shirts. The pair sold the toys for whatever price people wanted to give. Riley's mom Emily Milligan said some gave $5, and others gave $100.
In May, Riley and Kim went to St. Francis CARE in Murphysboro to adopt a kitten. There, Riley met Foxie, an abused dog in poor condition. Seeing Foxie inspired Riley to want to help her and the shelter, so the 11-year-old's mom posted images of the handmade toys on social media to help raise awareness and donations. Emily said they thought they would only make about $250, so Kim offered to match whatever Riley made. The amount from Riley's efforts came as quite a shock to Riley and shelter president Diane Daugherty.
"What an unbelievable young lady Riley is. What sets her apart is she did something about it. She made dog toys and sold them and raised $2,100 for us. That is a lot of money, and it means the world to St Francis. With everything happening that’s negative around us, people like Riley restore faith in all of us," said Daugherty.
Riley ended up raising $1,100, and her grandmother matched that amount up to $1,000. Riley and Kim delivered the check to the shelter on Thursday, July 9.
“I can't believe that people can walk past an animal and not think one bit about them, not water them, walk them, or feed them. It's horrible, so when I saw Foxie, it made me very sad, and I wanted to do something to help her. Thank you, everyone, who supported us,� said Riley.
Emily said Riley continued to go back and visit Foxie while she was raising the money. When she was there last, Foxie was close to being ready for a good home and had gained over 20 pounds.
Emily said Riley has also spoken to her school principal, and they are talking about the possibility of holding a food drive for the animals at Christmas time.
