It all started with the dog.

A 9-year-old Levi Fallavollita was anxiously waiting on his mother to go to a friend's house. And, to him, she was taking a long time to get ready.

Frustrated with the pace of her preparation, Fallavollita commented to his father "When I grow up, I want to marry my dog."

Fallavollita's humorous observation resulted in a book. He donated all of the profits from that book to animal shelters raising more than $2,000.

And a budding writing career then blossomed.

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When he was 11, Fallavollita had an experience where he was on the receiving end of an armed threat. It had a major impact on him.

"When I was going through tough time, there wasn't kid friendly material I could go to," Fallavollita said. "And I felt kind of all alone."

In the hope of helping other kids dealing with issues that accompany growing up, especially bullying, Fallavollita wrote his second book, "The Good, the Bad and the Bullies."

And two years later, Fallavollita penned his third book.

Titled "Be Courageous," the book was a compilation of stories shared by other young people - all of them victims of bullying.

Fallavollita's work got the attention of Arizona Congressman Ron Barber, who was wounded in the shooting that seriously injured then U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.

Fallavollita was invited to Washington and spoke about bullying on the floor of the U.S. House.  

The honors have continued for Fallavollita during the past few years.

In November 2013, Fallavollita was relocated to the United Kingdom because of his father's job. However, that did not stop his work. Fallavollita received the Diana Award from the late Princess Diana's foundation and he began partnering with them on projects and events. 

Two years later, Fallavollita's father's job relocated to the Tampa area. More recently, Fallavollita partnered with Dove Skin Care on their self image project.

Along with three other young people, Fallavollita shared his stories with Dove to make a short film that will be shown globally in the United States, Europe, Australia and Africa.  

Fallavollita's work with Dove has encouraged him to start a new project he plans to call the Confidence Project. 

"It makes me feel really good that my actions are helping other people," said Fallavollita, a student at Mitchell High in Pasco County. "And that I'm basically helping people who are going through tough times. It's just really rewarding."