By Rita Frankenberry

Virginian-Pilot

Dogs may be man's best friend, but 6-year-old Kayleigh Crimmins has proven a pretty good friend to dogs too.

In fact, last March the Chesapeake resident even started up her own nonprofit , Kids for K9s Inc., to help keep her four-legged friends safe, including dogs with the Virginia Beach Police Department.

Garin and Kayleigh in June 2009. (Photo: Kids for K-9s)

After visiting the Chesapeake Police Department and watching some of the training exercises with the K-9 unit there, Kayleigh learned the many dangers dogs face as part of the police department.

Kayleigh's mom, Leomi Crimmins, recalls that later that day her daughter asked why police dogs in K-9 units don't also wear protective vests like the officers.

"She questioned why, and that was it," said Leomi Crimmins. "She was like, 'Well, I want to buy one.' "

And she did.

Shortly after making her mind up, Kayleigh raised the $630 necessary to buy a ballistic vest. She donated the vest to a police dog with the Greenbelt, Md., police department.

"She actually went up there and she got a letter from the chief of police saying they were very thankful she is doing this," Leomi Crimmins said.

Kayleigh kicked off the fundraising by contributing her own money.

"I sold my favorite toy," she said. "It was a kitchen. I sold it for $90, but the girl gave me $10 extra."

She raised additional money by asking her friends to donate. Since then, she has set her sights on a new goal. Not one to rest on her laurels, Kayleigh is already busy raising money to buy two more vests, for police dogs in Virginia Beach and Hampton.

"She contacted us," said Chris Watkins, an officer with the Virginia Beach K-9 unit. "She did all the legwork there."

Watkins said the department is eager for the donation because the ballistic vests can be expensive, ranging in price between $600 to over $1,500.

"There's not a lot of K-9 units in the area that use vests," he added. "They are generally pretty expensive. It's kind of hard to turn down stuff like that, especially now with budgets the way they are."

The Virginia Beach K-9 unit has 15 police dogs in its unit. Watkins said they plan on alternating the vest between four dogs that can fit into it.

The department may have its vest soon. Already, Kayleigh is busy trying to close in on her goal.

She recently oversaw the designs for the Kids for K-9s T-shirts - which she sells to raise money for her organization - and last month she helped collect garage sale items for a large church fundraiser. The proceeds also benefited her organization.

Mom Leomi said her daughter is decisive in matters relating to her organization and is as hands-on as a 6-year-old can be. In addition to helping put out the flyers for the church sale, Kayleigh also cleaned up the donations as they came in and helped whittle down the mission statement for the group.

"She has a great slogan, 'Protect our heroes, one vest at a time,' " her mom said. After she collects the money needed for the next two vests, Kayleigh will find other K-9 units in need.

As a result of the church fundraiser, Kayleigh is purchasing three vests, one for the Virginia Beach Police Department., another for the Newport News Sheriff's Department and another for the Chowan County Sheriff's Deptartment in North Carolina.

Her goal, she said, is to raise thousands and thousands of dollars for bulletproof vests.

"I want all the dogs to have bulletproof vests," Kayleigh said.

That's music to Watkins' ears.

"Organizations like hers make it possible not to work on a shoestring," he said. "It's nice having folks like her."

The Web site for Kids for K9s is www.kidsfork9s.com. Donations can also be made to Kids for K9s at any Navy Federal Credit Union branch.

Copyright 2009 Virginian-Pilot