Megan Ramirez, a fifth grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary shared with her students that she would like to one day get her daughter, Madison, a therapy dog.
Madison has Type 3 Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease that deteriorates the muscles. A therapy dog would help Madison with everyday activities.
That’s when four of her students decided to take matters into their own hands – bringing the teacher to tears.
“These amazing little girls over here surprised me. They made a flyer that advertised they were going to start a dog walking business and they wanted to raise money to get Maddie a therapy dog.”
The girls found out through research that a therapy dog can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 - but the big number didn’t scare them away from the challenge.
"We’re pretty sure that we can do it for a good cause so we decided to take a shot and go for it," one of the girls said.
So far, they have raised more than $400. They plan to continue until their goal has been met.
If you would like to help by donating or have a dog that needs walking, you can contact Megan Ramirez at mramirez@molineschools.org.