Look Up To THIS Hero, Kids: Her Name is Haley Ham

I wanted to call attention to a young girl who took a tragedy and turned it into something that will cause widespread change.

Her name is Haley Ham. My mom actually brought her to my attention a couple of months ago, because the woman my mom works for asked if I could sign one of my books to Haley, who--I think--is a friend of her family.

To summarize what happenned, Haley lost her two beloved dogs because someone gave them a concoction that contained things that were toxic to dogs, mainly antifreeze. She was, obviously, devastated and wanted to make sure this didn't happen to anyone else. There were no laws in her homestate of Tennessee that required manufactureres to put a bitter tasting additive into antifreeze to discourage animals from drinking it, and Haley made it her mission to educate others and try to help get legislation passed to make that happen.

And she did it.

Did I mention that Haley is 11 years old?

The news story says it all better than I do, so read this first, and then this, and then this.

I received a couple of lovely e-mails from Haley's mom, who is--while also heartbroken over their terrible loss--so very proud (and rightfully so!) of her daughter.

My heart is warmed by learning of young people like Haley. One person really can make change.