Four fifth grade girls from Moline have started their own business of walking dogs to help a special six-year-old.

Megan Ramirez, a fifth grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary shared with her students that she would like to one day get her daughter, Madison, a therapy dog.

Madison has Type 3 Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease that deteriorates the muscles. A therapy dog would help Madison with everyday activities.

That’s when four of her students decided to take matters into their own hands – bringing the teacher to tears.

“These amazing little girls over here surprised me. They made a flyer that advertised they were going to start a dog walking business and they wanted to raise money to get Maddie a therapy dog.”

The girls found out through research that a therapy dog can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 - but the big number didn’t scare them away from the challenge.

"We’re pretty sure that we can do it for a good cause so we decided to take a shot and go for it," one of the girls said.

So far, they have raised more than $400. They plan to continue until their goal has been met.