NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Paws-itive Partners and Fur the Love of Paws collected over three car-loads full of donations in their first-ever Pet Food Pantry donation drive held at the NBC Nebraska station.
Staffed completely by volunteers, the Pet Food Pantry collects pet food to help lower income families feed their dogs and cats.
This donation drive is a way to help them make sure their shelves are stocked, so they can continue their mission of helping community pet owners.
Despite the cold temperatures, many people donated pet food as well as money to help keep this pantry alive and well.
Students from Maxwell with the FCCLA program also raised money to help collect food, while conducting a school project about the costs that go into caring for a pet.
Cheyanne, a Maxwell student, said, "I love animals, so if I knew that just even one or two pets could be saved by just getting a little bit of food, that would make me really happy."
The Pet Food Pantry has been running since 2013, and they are open every Monday.
Roughly 500 people use the pantry every year, and owners can come three consecutive months to get food for their pets, six times per year.
"It helps by keeping my cats alive and fed. I can't afford to buy it. My cats would probably die without this program. They're very awesome," Cynthia Blaylock, a pantry recipient, said.
Susan Kubart, with Paws-itive Partners, said there is a great demand for the Pet Food Pantry in the community.
"We usually run about, an average of about 36 families a month and about 700 pounds of dog food, couple hundred pounds of cat food every month. So yeah, some months we've had up to 50 families and giving over 1,100 pounds of pet food," Kubart said.
A pickup truck, a van, and an SUV were stocked full of pet food donations to help the Pet Food Pantry once the collection ended.
