Everyone can make a difference in this world no matter the age and that's the example of little Stevie Nelson.
For his sixth birthday, instead of presents he wanted donations to the Northeast Nebraska Humane Society and those donations far exceeded their expectations.
$25,778.19!
That is how much money Stevie Nelson raised for the Northeast Nebraska Humane Society.
"But until a minute ago when I wrote the final that's when it really hit me of the magnitude of all of this. Just from one little boy who took a tragedy and helped pets all over northeast Nebraska," Jo Anne McKenzie Treasurer of the Northeast Nebraska Humane Society.
Two days before his fifth birthday, Stevie's two dogs ran away.
Stevie loves animals and after seeing an A.S.P.C.A. commercial it changed Stevie and made him want to help.
"Because I felt bad for the animals," tells Stevie.
The original plan was to raise 6 thousand dollars by his 6th birthday. A thousand dollars for each year of his life.
But once bigger beneficiaries began hearing about Stevies mission to raise money for the Humane Society... donations started to pour in.
"I can't believe all of the emotions that have come with this. It's just been really exciting for us. We really weren't expecting it to take off like this," says Stevie's mom Dawn Nelson
The money raised will go to building an Animal Shelter for northeast Nebraska.
But it wasn't just money that was donated... squeaky toys, food and other essentials were donated too.
"It's just amazing you know you never know what's going to be the trigger to give people the interest to donate to your charity," quotes Sister Kevin Hermsen.
This story is an example of achieving our greatest expectations plus more where Stevie's dream to help animals has inspired so many people to help build that dream.
