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EAST PROVIDENCE - A minor celebrity who has become an adored mascot for charity came to visit East Providence on Tuesday. The interesting part: That celebrity was a dog. Schmitty is a small Yorkshire Terrier who has made not-so-small contributions to charitable causes.

She has done so by posing for pictures, which have in turn been used to make postcards and other items that have been sold to raise money for charities such as Dogs Who Care, a foundation founded to help raise funds for small animal shelters. Schmitty's owner, Ely McGuire, said her dog first discovered her calling after firefighters from their neighborhood ladder company did not come back after helping to fight the massive fires at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Schmitty was distressed when she saw no more of the firefighters who used to pet her and tease her about her size at the station she walked by almost every day. In memory of the firefighters, Ms. McGuire and Schmitty began what has since become a rather unusual occupation for a dog.

"She loves to pose," Ms. McGuire said. "So she did a line of greeting cards. That's what started it."

It started with a donation to Ladder Company #25, accompanied by a picture of Schmitty in red, white and blue shades, which the company hung up in their building. Since then, the so-called "Real New Yorkie" has appeared on greeting cards, calendars and other memorabilia for charitable causes. She has also appeared on television's Access Hollywood and The Ellen Show, and the line of products inspired by her has led to the creation of a web site dedicated to selling those products.

Schmitty comes to town

This is where the East Providence connection comes in. Schmitty came to the offices of In-Sight Enterprises this week, in celebration of a new partnership with the company. Insight's Chris Butler said the company would be using the services of blind and visually impaired individuals to help fill orders for Schmitty's products. Far from merely being done out of kindness to the disabled, however, Mr. Butler said the operation would disprove negative misconceptions about employing the disabled by making sure all orders were processed correctly, quickly and efficiently. Ms. McGuire said she hoped this would also be an example to the business world.

"If a five-pound dog can give back, why can't other big companies?," she said.