Joyce, a senior who loves to sport colorful glasses, is cuddling with her beloved Mistie. A spunky yorkie with an eye for fashion, the two are clearly an ideal match. She's literally the reason Joyce gets out of bed every day. Walking, feeding and caring for Mistie gives Joyce’s own life purpose. Like so many seniors, her pet helps curb the burden of loneliness and isolation. Pets help their people build healthier lives, and every pet lover deserves their special brand of unconditional love and companionship. Even when they struggle to afford nutritious pet food, consistently.
Food insecurity impacts people, and their pets, too.
Someone’s love for their pet can’t possibly be measured by the amount in their checking account. It's why at PetSmart Charities, we’re launching the first ever annual Pet Hunger Awareness Day on September 26, 2023. Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month takes place in September each year, so it made sense to set aside a day to champion pets. They, too, experience food insecurity when their people do. Pets are part of the family, and supporting their parents with nutritious pet food is key to keeping them in their homes with the people they love – and out of shelters. But we can’t do it alone. Pets are inextricably attached to people, and so we have to find avenues to reach them.
Thriving partnerships with national social service organizations have been the secret to success in making an impact – along with making others more aware. So let me tell you a bit more.
Feeding America + PetSmart Charities = Banking on solutions
The impact of the pandemic, and then inflation, hit many families hard. According to Feeding America, in 2022, 1 in 6 people sought the help of food relief programs and food banks. Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S., serving a network of more than 200 affiliate food banks. That includes St. Mary’s Food Bank, the nation’s very first one located right here in Phoenix near our home office. The team at Feeding America are the experts. Together, we formed a partnership beginning in 2017, and to date, Feeding America has distributed millions of pounds of quality pet food across the country. We know that together, we are so much more efficient. And together, with critical support from donors and volunteers on the ground, we make a profound impact on people who might otherwise be forced to surrender their precious pets back to shelters. And that’s an impossible choice to make.
Meals on Wheels America + PetSmart Charities = Special Deliveries
Next, give it up for volunteers, who make the world go round. At Meals on Wheels, the nation’s most prolific social services agency for senior citizens, volunteers deliver a lot more than meals. They also bring social interactions, compassion and a keen eye in tow. Some observant volunteers discovered that the containers of meals they delivered for seniors were often on the floor. Turns out, many seniors love their treasured pets so much, they’ll ensure their fur babies’ tummies are full before their own. Scores of those meals were lovingly placed on the floor for sharing.
As people invested in making life better for pets and people, we knew Meals on Wheels could be another vehicle (pun intended!) through which we could reach pet parents in need. We teamed up beginning in 2019, and our partnership has been fruitful and collaborative. Now, with support from PetSmart Charities, many local Meals on Wheels member organizations serve up pet food right alongside those meals for seniors like Joyce. We’re grateful that together, thousands of older Americans, who have given so much during their lifetimes, can now receive just a little bit back.
The Canadian Connection
The efforts around Pet Hunger Awareness Day will also reach to our partners in Canada, where more than 18% of people live in homes experiencing food insecurity. A recent survey conducted on behalf of PetSmart Charities of Canada™ found that more than 77% of pet parents would forgo their meals to ensure their pets’ get enough to eat. That’s no surprise to us — because pets are family.
We’ve made a $500,000 commitment to alleviating pet hunger, and as always, rely on our thriving partnerships on the ground to make an impact. Humane Canada was awarded a $300,000 grant to create the first-ever national pet food pantry network to support pet parents, social service agencies and shelters. We’re also making grants to partners to help keep pet food on the shelves of pet food pantries across the country.
You can help, too
There are many ways social service organizations and passionate pet people — who want to make lives better at both ends of the leash — can contribute to the spirit of Pet Hunger Awareness Day.
If yours is a social service organization interested in learning how to integrate serving pets, too, please connect with us at PetSmart Charities. Or team up with other local pet-serving organizations to collaborate and share ideas and resources. Pets can be a meaningful and effective way of encouraging people in need to seek services.
Also, please join us in having a little fun to draw attention to a serious issue. Does your pet do a happy dance when dinner time is coming? Post a video of your pet doing a happy dinner dance on Instagram. For every photo or video posted on Instagram of your pet doing their dinner dance with the hashtag #dinnerdanceforpets between 9/18/23-9/26/23, one of our generous partners will donate $2, up to a maximum of $10,000, to PetSmart Charities.
And, you can always make a direct impact by supporting our work. Donating online or at checkout in PetSmart stores helps fund our life-changing programs.
Now that’s what we call, feeding hope.
Aimee Gilbreath is the president of PetSmart Charities. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
*Donations made on PetSmartCharities.org are not eligible for Treats points. Funds will be used to support PetSmart Charities mission. PetSmart Charities is a registered nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
