CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Flying for a cause is something one University of Virginia student has been doing to help furry friends across the nation.

For her 18th birthday, Gillian Moore’s father gave her a “discovery flight,” during which she was given the opportunity to try out flying a plane and it was an opportunity that changed her life for good.

“I will never forget the feelings of lifting off for the first time on my discovery flight. I was sold at that point,” said Moore, a first-generation pilot.

This year, she found a bigger purpose for flying. She started working with an organization called Pilots to the Rescue in September.

“Every couple of days, they are on the order of you know, 10 rescue puppies from point a to b. I got to be on a mission with four hounds from Georgia to New Jersey, which was really cool. So, we started in New Jersey, flew down to get the dogs, loaded them up, and flew them back to New Jersey,” Moore said.

She started her social media presence as a way to track her progress, but within the last two years, she's grown a platform with more than 40,000 followers.

“I have a lot of people looking at what I do so I could use that for some cool things,” Moore said.

She hopes to grow her social media and become a part of the Creator Fund to gain money from her videos so she can donate to her favorite causes.

Moore is working toward her commercial flight license and has just 30 hours to go.

“At that point, I’ll legally be allowed to be compensated to fly,” Moore said.

Follow her journey on Instagram at @pic_gillian.