By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

Fifth grade students Lucy Miles and Alexandra Dompier have combined their generous spirit and love of animals to help God’s most vulnerable creatures suffering during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The two 10-year-olds from St. Mary School, Bordentown, have created the “Do it Duo For Pets” outreach to collect funds and supplies earmarked for donation to shelters caring for displaced or injured animals.

“You know kids,” said Mary Miles, Lucy’s mother. “They are born philanthropists.”

The girls, friends since pre-kindergarten, had participated in food and clothing drives for the humans affected by the superstorm. But the young animal lovers, whose families own a combined five rescue dogs, soon directed their thoughts to other four-legged victims of the flooding and destruction.

“About a week after the storm during a sleep-over,” Mary remembered, “Alex wondered, ‘Everyone is helping the people, but what happens to the pets?’”

Spurred to action by their daughters’ concerns, Mary Miles and Alex’s mother, Rhoda, researched local shelters’ needs and discovered that Seer Farms in Jackson needed help. The Popcorn Park Zoo was another natural choice, for the girls had participated in class trips to the Jackson facility with their school.

Lucy and Alex created a Facebook page entitled “Do It Duo For Pets” with the motto “Big or small, we help them all.” A wish list of supplies was quickly amassed for a mission of mercy; an appeal to family, friends and neighbors resulted in the Miles’ Chevy Suburban overflowing with pet and shelter cleaning supplies in just 24 hours.

On Nov. 12, the girls, clad in matching “Do It Duo” t-shirts emblazoned with their motto and a drawing of a dog’s paw, dropped off their inventory of donations to both locations. Their joyful Facebook post enumerated the largesse.

“Today we delivered 266 pounds of dry dog food; 55.5 pounds of dry cat food; 39 cans of wet dog food; 123 cans of wet cat food; 190 ounces of disinfectant; three gallons of bleach; 64 ounces of kitten formula; three litter boxes; 22 ounces of bird seed, two lbs of gerbil and hampster [sic] food, three pounds of rabbit food, 160 disinfectant wipes, two cases of paper towels; blankets; towels; treats; toys; collars; and leashes to two shelters for the hurricane pets.”

Four days later, the girls attended the Meadowlands Pet Expo in Secaucus in search of donations and assistance with their cause. A meeting with Detective Larry Donato, a member of the Task Force for the New Jersey SPCA, created a new alliance in the quest to protect the animals.

Lucy and Alex continue to collect supplies and plan another visit to the facilities in early December. Their mission to assist their furry friends is picking up momentum; more than 500  “likes” on their Facebook site is gaining them new friends and assistants. The girls extended an open hand to additional caring animal lovers to spread the good works.

“Do YOU want to be a Do It!???? Well now you can,” Lucy and Alex wrote in a Nov. 13 post. “So many people we have come across in the last couple of weeks have asked us how they too can be a Do It! After our visits to the shelters yesterday, we realize there are too many pets for just one Duo to take care of. And we now know this mission will not end when the after effects of “Sandy” are cleaned up.”

The young philanthropists invite other animal lovers to contact them via their Facebook page “Do It Duo For Pets” or email them at [email protected]. Donations of money can be made via a PayPal feature on the webpage, or pet supplies from their wish list may be dropped at the Willingboro Veterinary Clinic, 12 Sidney Lane, Willingboro.