North Haven’s no-kill pet shelter Animal Haven received a generous donation last month from a youthful, precocious benefactor.

Angelina Ferraiolo turned nine years old on May 20th. Her birthday party was fairly normal; held at Wallingford ice cream and candy shop The Perfect Treat, it included family and friends.

However, the choice of presents was quite distinctive.

Instead of regular gifts, Ferraiolo, a Wallingford resident, requested that celebration attendees buy cat food, toys and other feline-related items. Invitations included instructions of what supplies to bring. Over 100 pounds of cat food and 100 pounds of cat litter were collected, along with toys, cat beds, towels and a cat carrier, hundreds of dollars in provisions.

Ferraiolo then handed over all her birthday presents to Animal Haven.

“I love cats and I always wanted to do something like that,” Ferraiolo said, “to donate things.”

“To have a nine-year-old want a birthday about helping kittens and cats, it’s really inspiring,” said Amy Belmonte, Animal Haven adoption events coordinator. “It was a very sizeable donation for an adult not to mention a nine-year-old.”

“I really wish I had done something like that at my age,” Belmonte added.

Ferraiolo’s mother Claudia said they found the idea on a website while searching for party ideas a month before the date.

“I threw it at her, she took to it, and it snowballed from there,” Claudia said.

Upon learning of the charitable theme, Ferraiolo said her friends and family were excited.

“It got a lot of spirit,” Claudia said. “One friend donated a bag of cat food as big as she was. Everybody wanted to help.”

Fellow members of Ferraiolo’s in-law’s senior center contributed cat goods. In the weeks before May 20, The Perfect Treat set up a donation box for its customers.

“A lot of people outside the birthday party brought stuff, too,” Claudia said.

Ferraiolo’s friends have been inspired toward analogous Samaritan efforts. “Some of her friends have already said they want to do something similar for their birthdays,” Claudia said. “One friend wants to do the same exact thing. Another friend wants to donate to the Connecticut Children’s Hospital.”

Animal Haven was a natural choice for Ferraiolo. “I’ve been volunteering there since I was three,” she said. “I get to play with cats and brush cats.”

“I love kitties,” added Ferraiolo, whose own pet cat is a silver tabby named Pickles.

In fact, Ferraiolo’s mother said her daughter aspires to be a veterinarian.

“I like animals because they’re cute and cuddly,” Ferraiolo said. “I just want to have a lot of animals, but I can’t, so I like helping them.”

Ferraiolo said her New Year’s resolution was to adopt a cat from Animal Haven. However, as her father’s allergies allow for only one household feline, Ferraiolo instead decided to help out shelter cats.

A love of animals was not the sole impetus for Ferraiolo. “My favorite part of the whole thing was when I got to bring it all to the animal shelter and donate it,” she said. “They were psyched.”

The Ferraiolos contacted Animal Haven several weeks before the party through Facebook. Belmonte, the shelter’s Facebook site administrator, wrote back that the idea was fantastic.

Belmonte praised the child’s actions. “I think it’s fabulous what she did,” she said. “I was actually there when she brought it in, and I told her ‘When I was nine, I only wanted Barbies and a chemistry set. I was completely selfish.’”

“With Angelina’s dreams of being a veterinarian and working with cats, this is a great way to start and make a difference at such a young age,” Belmonte added.

Unsurprisingly, Claudia was proud of her daughter, and the nine-year-olds enthusiasm for altruism and generosity. “It’s a good thing to instill,” Claudia said, “that there are bigger things out there than yourself.”