BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- When he read a book about the plight of the world’s endangered tiger population, 10-year-old Brunswick Hills Township resident Maxwell Miller did more than just pine for his favorite animal.
He took action.
“Tigers are endangered and their habitat is being cut down,” said Maxwell, a fifth-grader at Memorial Elementary School.
“My dad and I were reading a book that said the tiger population is going down a lot. There are only like 5,400 left in the wild. I just thought that was really bad.”
Maxwell’s father, Doug Miller, said he and his son began researching conservation groups for tigers, settling on the World Wildlife Fund.
Maxwell and his neighbor, Kiley Benjamin, created homemade “Save the Tigers” bookmarks and sold them around their Autumnwood Lane neighborhood, raising $675 for the cause.
This year, the tiger-saving team upped the ante, creating “Tiger Fest” at the Miller home Aug. 3 and featuring raffle prizes, a water slide, face painting and a bounce house.
In addition to raising awareness of the plight of the world’s tiger population, Maxwell set a fundraising goal of $1,000 to protect the natural habitat of tigers.
The inaugural Tiger Fest brought in more than $2,300 in donations for the World Wildlife Fund.
“Everybody says it is crazy that he has been able to do this,” Doug Miller said. “We have had a lot of support, but there are not a lot of 10-year-olds with the initiative to do this.”
Maxwell’s personal philosophy is simple.
“If you want to do it, you have to finish it,” he said.
Doug added that Maxwell even embraced some of the more uncomfortable aspects of the project -- such as “making the pitch” and asking people for donations -- with as much gusto as the fun parts.
Maxwell and his partners plan to continue raising awareness for endangered tigers, as well as for the next Tiger Fest, which Doug said is already in the works for next year.
“We are thinking of getting some zoos involved, and this year we held it the Saturday after International Tiger Week,” Doug said.
“So we want to at least keep that much going next year.”
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