By Liz Moser, Community Resource Coordinator
No family should ever have to consider giving up a beloved four-legged family member due to a lack of resources. The goal of the Pet Retention team at Animal Friends is simple – to keep people and pets together whenever possible. To meet this goal, it is vital that we offer accessible resources to help ensure that families get the support they need to keep their pets happy and healthy at home.
One of those key resources is our Chow Wagon Pet Food Bank. Through this program, we serve thousands of families each month with free pet food. Chow Wagon meets families where they are by partnering with more than 30 food pantries and social service organizations in communities across Allegheny County. Our network of amazing volunteers delivers food to our partners each month so that families can access resources right in their own neighborhoods.
Lately, we have spoken with more families than ever who could benefit from a helping hand. To meet this need, we have worked to form new partnerships that will allow us to serve even more people and pets. Over the past several months, our Pet Retention team has worked to expand access to pet food into even more communities across the region. In May, we were pleased to extend a partnership to Abiding Missions in Allentown, and we added partner pantries in McKees Rocks and McKeesport shortly after. Through these partnerships, we are able to help families keep their pets’ bowls full even if they don’t have access to a car or public transportation.
Our amazing network of partners and our ever evolving, “thinking outside the cage” approach to serving the community are part of the reason that we’re able to have the impact that we do. We are thrilled to continue our work and doing what we can to create a resource-rich community where families can receive the support they need.