TV Fanatic caught up with Ian Somerhalder at Comic-Con over the weekend, and while we had plenty of questions for the actor regarding The Vampire Diaries Season 4, we focused our interview instead on a more pressing cause:

His IS Foundation and its latest venture: building an animal sanctuary.

Somerhalder is auctioning off a date with himself in order to raise money for the cause, whose mission is to bring children together with animals in order to combat the former's bullying tendencies and create a meaningful bond between human and canine.

"We will bring the bruised together as a family to learn just how unique - and just very the same - we all are...and how if we unite...we are NOT the outcasted, we ARE the UNSTOPPABLE," the IS Foundation website reads.

Learn a lot more about the initiative, along with how you can help, now:

NOTE: Somerhalder is asking for 1,000 people to donate $10/per month. The owners and several staff members of TV Fanatic have already done so. Visit the ISF website now to chip in however you can.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.