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Seven-year-old donates nearly $700 to SPCA

Instead of receiving toys she received donations for her birthday
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Seven-year-old Isabelle Mai presents her donation cheque to the Victoria B.C. SPCA. (Photo courtesy of Rainu Mai)

West Shore resident, Isabelle Mai, jumped at the opportunity to donate money to a charity for her birthday.

Before her seventh birthday her parents asked Isabelle if she would consider forgoing toys and receiving donations to put towards a charity of her choice, and they would match the total donations from her birthday party. Her parents said she has enough toys and usually sticks to her favourites. They gave her a choice between the SPCA and a charity for underprivileged children and she initially wanted to help both causes.

“I chose the SPCA because I really like doggies,” Isabelle said, adding she wants to be a veterinarian when she gets older.

Isabelle’s stepmother, Rainu, was impressed that Isabelle wanted to help more than just one group, so Rainu agreed to donate to the other charity through her business.

Rainu said the parents of the children who attended the party were excited about the idea. “Some of the other parents have adopted pets from there and were over the moon,” she said.

The party was a superhero theme, because everyone was a superhero by helping the animals. Isabelle was Wonder Woman and there was a Wonder Woman cake and giant slide for superheros to fly down.

After the party, she donated $680 to the SPCA at the beginning of June.

Isabelle was beaming when she thought back to taking the money to the SPCA. “[It felt] awesome, I felt like I wanted to help them,” she said, noting that she thinks some of her friends might like to do the same thing on their birthdays.


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lindsey.horsting@goldstreamgazette.com