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Timmy "Mini" Tyrrell is only 7 years old, but that hasn't stopped the boy from Manassas, Virginia, from taking on a formidable foe.
When he was only 6, his friend was diagnosed with cancer. She ultimately recovered from the illness, but the experience struck a chord in Timmy, inspiring him to declare war on childhood cancer everywhere.
So, with the assistance of InspiredAthletes.org, Timmy started "Mini's Mission," and morphed his go-kart racing hobby into a well-oiled philanthropic machine.
Between March 2011 and February 2012, "Mini" raised a not-so-mini $27,000, and donated it all to the Jeffrey Virostek Fund, an organization that helps families battling childhood cancer.
Not satisfied with his performance, Timmy partnered with the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation in March 2012 with plans to change gears and put fundraising in the fast lane. His new goal, reports the Mechanicsville Local: $250,000.
What (ahem) drives him to raise so much? "Cancer is just.. I don't like it." Timmy explained to NBC's Nightly News. "I wish it wasn't a subject in the world."
Despite his mission and the bit of celebrity that goes with it (he got to meet Jeff Gordon once), Timmy has normal third-grader problems, too: “I still have to do homework," he lamented to the Manassas Patch.
If you would like to donate to Mini's Mission for the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation, you can do so electronically on this page. As of this writing, Timmy has raised nearly $11,000 of his $250,000 goal.
PHOTOS of Timmy racing to cure childhood cancer [via Facebook]:
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