Article + Photography by J.Nichole Smith
In Bend, Oregon you’ll find an exquisite high desert landscape complete with pine trees and fragrant sage, the lovely SunRiver resort and spectacular weather – but the real jewel of this former lumber town is 14 yr. old Mimi Ausland.
When Mimi was just 11, she created Freekibble.com – a trivia web site where visitors can answer a daily multiple-choice question, and correct or not, 10 pieces of kibble will be donated to a homeless dog. In only three short years freekibble.com and its sister-site freekibblekat.com have donated over 3.9 million meals to over 100 shelters, and are two of the top 5 most visited animal rescue sites in the world, boasting a whopping 100,000 combined daily visits from visitors in 137 countries. Needless to say, Mimi has been a very busy girl.
I recently had a chance to catch up with miss Mimi and her parents at the Central Oregon Humane Society. After a brief photo shoot we worked together to unload and put away two palettes worth of Halo’s “Spot’s Stew”. This delivery, which was one of Mimi’s regular end-of-the-month visits to her local shelter, was special… it marked the beginning of freekibble’s exclusive partnership with Halo pet food.
Perhaps most well known for their ultra-famous co-owner Ellen DeGeneres, and their recent support of the U.S. Postal Service’s 2010 “Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet” stamps, Halo seems to be making a name for itself in holistic and high quality pet food products. Halo has been honored with National Canine Cancer Foundation “Seal of Excellence” and now, Halo is honored to be collaborating with Mimi:
“We are thrilled to partner with such an amazing young woman and her organization,” said Steve Marton, CEO, Halo, Purely for Pets®. “Her desire to keep shelter pets fed, not with just any food, but with natural, healthy food, is commendable. We at Halo are honored to be able to help Freekibble fulfill their mission of feeding shelter pets in the best possible way.”
If you haven’t yet been to freekibble.com – now is the time! Visit the site and be sure to subscribe to receive regular email reminders to visit and support the cause. The trivia questions range from super easy to super fascinating, but whether you guess right or wrong, you’ll be responsible for 10 more pieces of kibble finding their way into the belly of a hungry shelter pet, and there’s nothing trivial about that!
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After our “hard work” was done I had a chance to join Mimi and her parents for dinner and then a family photo shoot at their home. I enjoyed meeing Mimi’s own dog, Aspen {a doll of a Golden} and having the chance to get to know this one-of-a-kind girl a little bit more. Watch out world – she’s got a lot yet to give and do! It’s a joy knowing kids like her are out there, making a difference in a big way.
There was also BBQ and cupcakes… add in the beer + wine garden and I really don’t think you can get closer to perfection: BBQ, cupcakes, sunshine, cold beer and dogs by the ocean? Yes please! Here’s some photos that the good folks at Seabrook posted on their blog (you can see Olivia chillin’ in the car as we set up our booth): 
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