Think one or two people can't make a difference?

Then you don't know about Amanda Huhman and Libby Burks.

The two animal lovers double-handedly rallied an entire community to support a cause they believe in. Because of their efforts, the deteriorating, crammed-full Central Missouri Humane Society won a nationwide shelter-makeover contest Monday worth up to $1 million in cash and services.

Did I mention yet that Amanda and Libby are 13 years old?

"When my mom told me we'd won, I was dancing around, so excited," Amanda giggled into the phone hours after learning CMHS had taken the prize.

The seventh-graders, who have been volunteer dog-walkers and kitty-cuddlers at the shelter since age 9, got it into their heads in January that their coming-apart-at-the-seams shelter was the perfect candidate for the Zootoo makeover contest they read about in a magazine. They approached the shelter director to get her blessing and then they got to work.

The rest, as they say, is history.

But that's not to suggest it was easy.

By the time the girls had learned about the contest, conducted by Zootoo, an online community of animal lovers, it had already been going on for months. Late-starter CMHS was in 859th place in mid-January.

Libby and Amanda — friends since third grade, animal-lovers since birth — launched a major publicity effort (local shelters won points when people signed on, posted journal entries or pictures or reviewed products). They collared folks in parking lots to ask them to go online and support the shelter, papered the city with posters and fliers, did radio appearances before school and gave speeches to civic groups. They attended fundraising dinners and went to seniors' communities to teach residents how to go online and cast votes.

"It was a lot of work," Libby acknowledges, but it was paying off. Within weeks, CMHS had moved up several hundred positions.

"Once we'd advanced into the top 200 or so, the girls were convinced we could win," says shelter executive director Patty Forister.

When the community-support points were tallied in March, CMHS had advanced to first place. But the competition wasn't over yet. Zootoo founder Richard Thompson was to visit the top 20 point-earners and choose 10 finalists for a national online vote. The residents of Columbia went to some lengths to make sure CMHS would make the cut. Hundreds lined the streets when Thompson flew into town. The mayor said a few words. The atmosphere was festive.

CMHS was named one of the 10 finalists. Now the nation would decide which shelter was worthy of the makeover. Columbia residents e-mailed friends all over the country, asking them to vote for CMHS. Amanda and Libby redoubled their efforts.

At the end of seven days of voting, CMHS had won.

Is there a chance this could have happened without the efforts of the two girls? "That's a big, fat, absolute no," Forister declares. The two teens were a compelling catalyst who presented a case in ways officialdom couldn't.

The girls are "personable and professional," says Forister, and "their enthusiasm was absolutely infectious."

The two missed some school because of their efforts. But mom Angie Huhman says, "The skills they've learned are priceless." Also, it should be mentioned they're both straight-A students, and they were "very conscientious about keeping up with their assignments."

The contest win will bring huge changes to the shelter. The most pressing needs: better ventilation so disease doesn't spread, an isolation room for sick animals, a separate area away from the dogs for stressed-out cats, room to accommodate more animals, and attention to a drainage problem that flooded the building last fall.

Forister regards all that has happened in four short months as an object lesson for parents … for the world, really. "If a child wants to do something she's passionate about, supporting that effort and watching it bloom can bring unimaginable reward."

Thompson regards it as exactly what he had envisioned when he established the contest. "Shelter people work very hard to do the best for the animals in their care," he says. "But often they're working in obscurity, the community has little or no awareness of the needs. When a community gets behind a shelter, as happens in this contest, it realizes it must provide ongoing help. Shelters that participate in the makeover contest regularly see a big boost in volunteers and donations. That's what this is all about."

The girls regard it as nothing more than stepping up to make sure a need was met. The win, Amanda hopes, will transform a "shelter that's old and outdated" into one that better meets the needs of the animals and the community.

Minutes after the win was announced, the teens had embarked on their next project — a weekly Web show called Animal Talk that makes its debut this week. It will highlight shelter needs and the makeover progress, as well as feature adoptable pets and discuss such problems as pet overpopulation and puppy mills. They're hoping to capitalize on the Zootoo momentum and generate even more funds and help for the shelter.

The impetus, says Libby, is simple: "We want a better life for the animals."