Animal Welfare Professionals

It's definitely harder when your community has fewer resources to share! One thing I keep in mind when asking these folks is to ask for things they already might have and not be using, rather than asking them to buy new items. For example, a FaceBook post or newsletter item asking for donations of crates can be phrased as "Got a crate your puppy outgrew? We can use it! We need to rebuild our crate stockpile for our fosters and adopters" followed by info on where to bring it. A new crate is a big expense, but someone might have one sitting in their garage "just in case" they get another puppy, and decide that they would rather give it to you. In my experience, a lot of folks who are living in these low-resource communities tend to do a lot of reusing, swapping, and sharing these types of durable items, so it can be about becoming part of those exchanges and a location folks think of when they have these items.

For blankets/towels/sheets, do you have any hotels/motels in your community? We have some that will periodically donate stained or damaged bedding and towels. They don't look nice enough to use for guests, but function just fine for dog bedding! This could be a public partnership, where you post public thank-yous and help encourage goodwill towards the hotel, or a quieter one-on-one relationship with a hotel manager who sets aside things that would otherwise be thrown away. 

It's definitely harder when your community has fewer resources to share! One thing I keep in mind when asking these folks is to ask for things they already might have and not be using, rather than asking them to buy new items. For example, a FaceBook post or newsletter item asking for donations of crates can be phrased as "Got a crate your puppy outgrew? We can use it! We need to rebuild our crate stockpile for our fosters and adopters" followed by info on where to bring it. A new crate is a big expense, but someone might have one sitting in their garage "just in case" they get another puppy, and decide that they would rather give it to you. In my experience, a lot of folks who are living in these low-resource communities tend to do a lot of reusing, swapping, and sharing these types of durable items, so it can be about becoming part of those exchanges and a location folks think of when they have these items.

For blankets/towels/sheets, do you have any hotels/motels in your community? We have some that will periodically donate stained or damaged bedding and towels. They don't look nice enough to use for guests, but function just fine for dog bedding! This could be a public partnership, where you post public thank-yous and help encourage goodwill towards the hotel, or a quieter one-on-one relationship with a hotel manager who sets aside things that would otherwise be thrown away. 

It's definitely harder when your community has fewer resources to share! One thing I keep in mind when asking these folks is to ask for things they already might have and not be using, rather than asking them to buy new items. For example, a FaceBook post or newsletter item asking for donations of crates can be phrased as "Got a crate your puppy outgrew? We can use it! We need to rebuild our crate stockpile for our fosters and adopters" followed by info on where to bring it. A new crate is a big expense, but someone might have one sitting in their garage "just in case" they get another puppy, and decide that they would rather give it to you. In my experience, a lot of folks who are living in these low-resource communities tend to do a lot of reusing, swapping, and sharing these types of durable items, so it can be about becoming part of those exchanges and a location folks think of when they have these items.

For blankets/towels/sheets, do you have any hotels/motels in your community? We have some that will periodically donate stained or damaged bedding and towels. They don't look nice enough to use for guests, but function just fine for dog bedding! This could be a public partnership, where you post public thank-yous and help encourage goodwill towards the hotel, or a quieter one-on-one relationship with a hotel manager who sets aside things that would otherwise be thrown away. 

We let our community know we take open food as long as it's in the original container/bag.  Something your pet refuses to eat? We'll put it to good use! We actually get quite a bit that way and we are a pretty small community.

We let our community know we take open food as long as it's in the original container/bag.  Something your pet refuses to eat? We'll put it to good use! We actually get quite a bit that way and we are a pretty small community.