For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

We use my garage at my home. We run on a super shoestring budget so we do not have funding to rent anything. 

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

How many people use your service?  We had over 200 use ours last month (just our 3rd month in service).  I can't imagine that many people coming by my house.  LOL

We use my garage at my home. We run on a super shoestring budget so we do not have funding to rent anything. 

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

Hi Karen,

We started our pet food bank last June offering pet food for not only cats and dogs but for small pets like rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs. We have families register with a list of what animals they need food for. We are fortunate enough to have space at our sanctuary to store donated food in an a/c building and host our once a month pickup, but we are growing and may have to come up with a different plan. We are in a rural area and we are getting request for goat, pig and horse feed. The biggest issue for us with renting a space or hosting off property is finding people to help with stocking, sorting, pulling and handing out the items.  We live on property and are the main caretakers at the sanctuary so it is easier for us to host on the farm. One of our board members helps on pick up day. We are considering adding additional storage as we get more and more donated items from local businesses.  

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

I thought I would share some lessons learned on our pet pantry.  The county we serve with our pet pantry, Mercer County  NJ

It has a high poverty rate. With inflation things have gotten worse. Once municipality in the county , Trenton, has  a 26% poverty rating. This info for all towns are available in the census reports.   The population of our county is over 380,000.

We first looked at numerous pet pantries across the USA to see how they were doing theirs. We visited local ones to see their process and how they interacted with the community, asking them what worked and what does not work. 

All shelters in the municipalities in our towns have to report  to the State, the registered pets (mind you not everyone registers their pets and the ordinances are not enforced to ensure people do, so the numbers no doubt are even higher) . Our state publishes a report that shows the counts.  Mercer County is my county. I have a snapshot below of that. If someone from outside of our county asked for food we share that they are out of our county and give them resources to call to get food. We have to stay focused or it could get out of control fast. What we learned from other pantries is their inability to say no, was the end of the pantry. We want to keep this going, so although no sometimes is hard to say, the bigger picture of keeping the pantry going is key. We always give alternatives to people we say sorry we cannot help to. 

We wanted to target the area that needed the most help. Hamilton and Trenton have the highest pet household counts, Trenton has the highest poverty level. I already have been taking care of a garden in Trenton that I built 10 years ago, so its perfect, to do the pantry events there each month. 

We made a sign a month prior to starting the pantry and put it at the garden and announced it on social media to prepare residents for the pantry.  The sign is always up in the garden I take care of where we hold the pantries.

What we learned from the other pantries they have strict rules for their distribution. They make residents show ID, where they lived, documents on their pets to show they were spayed and neutered, and some even asked for financial info to prove need. There is a lot of paperwork to manage and safeguard when you are asking for all that data.  Those pantries that collect all the data, they are distributing to very few people and have huge staffs to manage the data safely. Some are doing that but not safely managing that data. Which is important. 

People are sometimes embarrassed to ask for help. We wanted to not make them feel that way and just help them and educate them on the importance of spay and neuter and vaccinations. We share low cost vet care and the programs the state has for spay and neuter with residents every month. The shelters are busting at the seams due to lack of enforcement of ordinances and breeding going on.  The residents who come to my pantry are so grateful and kind. One resident who works for Walmart also gets bags from Walmart so that I can distribute things to residents in the nice Walmart bags. 

We are a small group 4 people for our nonprofit so we made the decision to just help residents and not ask for paperwork, and be sensible with our distribution.  The people who come, really need it. We always ask how many pets, the names of their pets, where they live, etc. Many actually bring their pets to the pantry, for they come every month, for us to meet them.  I store all the pet food in my garage. We keep costs low in my nonprofit. So renting a shed/storage unit is not part of the plan. I have two months ahead of pet food in my garage.  So I fund raise and purchase based on our inventory to keep this cadence.  We give out food, toys, leases, treats, etc. 

I use my little Fiat 500 (small car) for the pantry. I can load 900 pounds into it. If there is a large donation I need to pick up I go to the UHAUL near my house and rent a truck to use for the day. They have been kind with their pricing for our nonprofit as well. I make several trips to the pantry area with the Fiat and residents help me unload and nothing disappears between deliveries on pantry day.  They are very respectful and know we well. For I have taken care of the garden and transformed that plot of land for the city for the past 10 years. I also grew up in the area I do the pantry.  Building trust with the community is key. People come from all over the county on pantry day.  Some walk for hours to get food. They bring wagons to put the pet food in. Last month a resident brought his trash can to carry it home. In between I delivery in the early AM before work and after work to those who cannot get to the pantry and need help.  Helping with no judgement. However, we do hold a hard line to feral cat communities.  We help residents pets first and foremost. We are not big enough to deal with the massive feral cat communities. So we share info with residents on the nonprofits that can help with the cat communities.  If things calm down for how many pets people have, then we can help those cat colony communities, but right now we simply have to stay laser focused on our mission.

With monetary donations we get, if we see a pet that needs vet care and if we have the funds to help, we help with that as well.  The vets in the area are amazing and decrease the cost of their services to help a pet in need to help us. 

I hope you found this helpful and any tips you can share, please share. Thanks a million

Hi Karen,

We started our pet food bank last June offering pet food for not only cats and dogs but for small pets like rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs. We have families register with a list of what animals they need food for. We are fortunate enough to have space at our sanctuary to store donated food in an a/c building and host our once a month pickup, but we are growing and may have to come up with a different plan. We are in a rural area and we are getting request for goat, pig and horse feed. The biggest issue for us with renting a space or hosting off property is finding people to help with stocking, sorting, pulling and handing out the items.  We live on property and are the main caretakers at the sanctuary so it is easier for us to host on the farm. One of our board members helps on pick up day. We are considering adding additional storage as we get more and more donated items from local businesses.  

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

For those of you running food pantries are you dependent on food to be donated to you to give out or do you purchase all your food?  If you purchase do you get a discount?  I'm trying to get a handle on what it would take and how we could manage a food pantry. There is such a need to help colony caregivers of community cats.  Many of them are living on fixed incomes and feed the cats before themselves. 

Gwen

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

@Gwen Harding-Peets we rely mostly on donations from local pet store businesses, who allow us to put collection boxes in their stores and work with a large local dog/cat nonprofit who donates their overflow to our rural pet food bank. So far we've had more dog and cat food donated than we need each month. Since we are rural many of our participants have farm animals like chickens and rabbits. We applied for a Walmart grant and received $2000 to purchase items that don't get donated such as rabbit feed and kitty litter.  I would also look into the goods program greatergood.org We purchase pallets of food through petprojectfl.org who is an ambassador of the goods program. The cost per pallet varies from $75 to $200 which covers the cost of freight. They don't deliver we are responsible for pickup. 

@Tammy Duffy thanks for sharing your stats. 

For those of you running food pantries are you dependent on food to be donated to you to give out or do you purchase all your food?  If you purchase do you get a discount?  I'm trying to get a handle on what it would take and how we could manage a food pantry. There is such a need to help colony caregivers of community cats.  Many of them are living on fixed incomes and feed the cats before themselves. 

Gwen

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

Has anyone else run into some of the major pet stores telling you they can't dontate to you the torn bags of food or outdated food?  One of the managers I asked told me they weren't allowed to give it to us, but it wasn't clear whether it was a store/corporation policy or some sort of government regulation.  

@Gwen Harding-Peets we rely mostly on donations from local pet store businesses, who allow us to put collection boxes in their stores and work with a large local dog/cat nonprofit who donates their overflow to our rural pet food bank. So far we've had more dog and cat food donated than we need each month. Since we are rural many of our participants have farm animals like chickens and rabbits. We applied for a Walmart grant and received $2000 to purchase items that don't get donated such as rabbit feed and kitty litter.  I would also look into the goods program greatergood.org We purchase pallets of food through petprojectfl.org who is an ambassador of the goods program. The cost per pallet varies from $75 to $200 which covers the cost of freight. They don't deliver we are responsible for pickup. 

@Tammy Duffy thanks for sharing your stats. 

For those of you running food pantries are you dependent on food to be donated to you to give out or do you purchase all your food?  If you purchase do you get a discount?  I'm trying to get a handle on what it would take and how we could manage a food pantry. There is such a need to help colony caregivers of community cats.  Many of them are living on fixed incomes and feed the cats before themselves. 

Gwen

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

@Gwen Harding-Peets We actually have two local stores and one distribution warehouse that donate to our pet food pantry including Pet Supplies plus, Leo & Lucky's and DogPerfect.  One we asked for donations but the other two reached out to us after hearing about our program.  I was surprised to learn the manager at Pet Supplies plus contacted several local dog rescues including our local humane society, who also has a pet food bank, to offer them the food but none of them wanted to pick it up. 

Has anyone else run into some of the major pet stores telling you they can't dontate to you the torn bags of food or outdated food?  One of the managers I asked told me they weren't allowed to give it to us, but it wasn't clear whether it was a store/corporation policy or some sort of government regulation.  

@Gwen Harding-Peets we rely mostly on donations from local pet store businesses, who allow us to put collection boxes in their stores and work with a large local dog/cat nonprofit who donates their overflow to our rural pet food bank. So far we've had more dog and cat food donated than we need each month. Since we are rural many of our participants have farm animals like chickens and rabbits. We applied for a Walmart grant and received $2000 to purchase items that don't get donated such as rabbit feed and kitty litter.  I would also look into the goods program greatergood.org We purchase pallets of food through petprojectfl.org who is an ambassador of the goods program. The cost per pallet varies from $75 to $200 which covers the cost of freight. They don't deliver we are responsible for pickup. 

@Tammy Duffy thanks for sharing your stats. 

For those of you running food pantries are you dependent on food to be donated to you to give out or do you purchase all your food?  If you purchase do you get a discount?  I'm trying to get a handle on what it would take and how we could manage a food pantry. There is such a need to help colony caregivers of community cats.  Many of them are living on fixed incomes and feed the cats before themselves. 

Gwen

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

For those of you running food pantries are you dependent on food to be donated to you to give out or do you purchase all your food?  If you purchase do you get a discount?  I'm trying to get a handle on what it would take and how we could manage a food pantry. There is such a need to help colony caregivers of community cats.  Many of them are living on fixed incomes and feed the cats before themselves. 

Gwen

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

For those of you running food pantries are you dependent on food to be donated to you to give out or do you purchase all your food?  If you purchase do you get a discount?  I'm trying to get a handle on what it would take and how we could manage a food pantry. There is such a need to help colony caregivers of community cats.  Many of them are living on fixed incomes and feed the cats before themselves. 

Gwen

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Gwen Harding-Peets
Board Member, trapper, S/N certificate coordinator, adoption/foster coordinator
PANT
Dutchess County, NY

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 07:46 PM
From: Karen Kirsch
Subject: Pet Food Pantries

For those of you who run pet food pantries -- located separate from shelters -- where are you housed?  Do you own/rent your own building?  Are you partnered with another organization and use their building?  I'm trying to think strategically as our small pantry grows.  We just started our charity in January 2024 and are currently operating out of a public storage unit that we rent monthly.  

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Karen Kirsch
Founder
Spayed and Aid
KY
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