Snowflake’s Snack Shack, a free pet food pantry for cats and dogs in Joplin, had its debut Friday at the Salvation Army, handing out 100-plus bundled packages of dog and cat food to pet owners who stopped by the community center at 320 E. Eighth St.
I first wrote about this charitable initiative — undertaken by Joplin’s Ann Leach and named after one of her sweet cats — several months ago, when she first came up with the idea.
She would have liked to have been doing for months now what she finally managed to undertake yesterday, but she’s struggled to find a permanent distribution center large enough to meet the needs of her operation.
Now, she can proudly and confidently state that one time per month from here on out, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month, Snowflake’s Snack Shack will be open for business.
“I have always believed that ‘thoughts held in mind produce after their kind,’ and this project has been the perfect reminder for me,” she said. “I knew the Snack Shack would happen. I just didn’t know the ‘how’ — and that was OK because I had faith the pieces and the people would come together in the right timing.”
The food is stored at the Joplin Humane Society on N. Main St. and transported each month to the downtown community center to, in Leach’s words, “keep it simple and portable.” The building itself is ideal because from the beginning she wanted a place that could shelter people from the cold, heat, humidity, snow and rain.
But there are parameters, Leach warns: “This is a gift. It’s not designed to feed your pet for a whole month. It’s a gesture to get you through a tough spot for maybe a week or so. We can’t accommodate requests for certain brands because we can’t guarantee that we’ll have that brand each month We are paying attention to the distinction between puppy and dog, kitten and cat, but that’s about as far as we can go.”
The idea came about when Leach befriended a homeless man and his service dog. While the man and his dog loved one another, truly depended on one another, both were clearly struggling in finding food. Leach began bringing the man’s dog food, who would wolf it down. She offered the man an opportunity to obtain some free dog food, but he declined, telling her: “I can’t lug around a 10-pound bag of dog food everywhere I go.”
So Leach decided she needed a centralized location in downtown Joplin for people to obtain food for their pets quickly and easily and without a lot of fuss. Think of the snack shack, she said, as something akin to the free libraries and food pantries popping up all across America: where people are free to take out or put in what they need as they please.
“I continue to be inspired by the giving spirit of so many people in this town,” Leach said. “Whether it’s a big need or a small one, the people here come through.”
Recently, Leach ran into her homeless friend and his dog, and she told him about the Snack Shack and how he was such an inspiration behind it.
“He was so proud,” Leach said. “He told me, ‘The food you gave my dog those few times helped more than you’ll know.’ I am looking forward to seeing Snowflake’s Snack Shack grow. I have a couple of friends who make buying an extra bag of pet food a regular part of their grocery shopping, and that’s the kind of giving action that will sustain our efforts for the long run.”
If you want to volunteer or to donate, please call Leach at 417-438-6808 or leave a message on the Snowflake’s Snack Shack’s Facebook’s page.
Address correspondence to Kevin McClintock, c/o The Joplin Globe, Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802 or email kmcclintock@joplinglobe.com.
