Canadian student, 23, uses her life savings to travel to Australia and help animals injured in fires

Australia recently received tons of rainfall, which brought some relief to areas otherwise devastated by the intense wildfires that have been ravaging the country for the past few months. While the rainfall delivered a much-needed moment of respite, there is more to be done. Australia's emergency services continue to work around the clock due to severe shortages. During this trying time, several individuals have stepped up in order to do their part to help. One such individual is Kelsey Trimble, a 23-year-old student who decided to leave her home in Toronto, Canada, and travel to Australia so she could help save and rehabilitate injured animals, The Daily Mail reports.

Kelsey, a recent university graduate, used all her life savings to travel to Australia. For the past year, she has been saving up and working tirelessly to raise enough money to go on a vacation as a reward for all the hard work she put into earning her degree. Despite this, rather than celebrating her graduation from university, she wanted to be a responsible global citizen. Therefore, determined to make a lasting positive change, Kelsey took action. She landed in Sydney last week with an estimated 60 kilograms of supplies and donations to help as many animals injured in the bushfires as she possibly could.

In an interview, the 23-year-old stated, "I noticed a fair bit of people were struggling to find a way to get their donations to Australia. And I then came up with the idea to take advantage of the luggage given to me with my flight and use it towards bringing donations over... There are so many people in Canada working together to help Australia... We all want to help and are all working together to make that happen from the other side of the world." Canada has undoubtedly stepped up to make a difference. As donations keep flooding in from the North American country, several Canadian firefighters also gave up their Christmas holidays last year to travel to Australia and help put out fires.

What truly motivated Kelsey was her love for animals. She has always been a strong advocate for animal rights, so she couldn't possibly stand by and watch as populations of wildlife lost their homes and lives and succumbed to their injuries. "My love for animals is what drove me to begin gathering the donations," she explained. "I had to do something instead of [sitting] on the sidelines." It has been estimated that the bushfires would have claimed the lives of over a billion animals so far. Thus, everyone's contributions are valuable. Ever since she began her volunteer work, Kelsey has received an outpouring of donations, including 85 nests, 12 bat wraps, 20 pouches, two beds, 69 pouch liners and over $1200 in medical supplies.

These days, Kelsey wakes up at the crack of dawn to deliver supplies (such as fabrics, knits, medical supplies, food, towels, sheets, and money) to animals injured in the wildfires. She explained that she's been extremely exhausted but that doesn't stop her. To Kelsey, her sacrifices are "worth it," she affirmed. She's also been amazed by all the engagement from the global community. She said, "I've never seen people come together like this before, [it's] absolutely amazing." Her story just goes to show that there's always some way you can contribute no matter who you are or where you're from.