Angels Help Pets Eat
The Pet Food Pantry For the less Fortunate
Mission:
To encourage good health, via food, for the pets living with homeless and less fortunate individuals. A way to help educate the community about pets that have people who love them, but need assistance with their care.
Introduction:
Daily you may see stray animals in your neighborhood streets or hear about them in your local shelters. These pets are homeless, abandoned, or taken from undeserving owners who have mistreated the blessing of owning a pet. Pets are a responsibility and need people to care for them. Left in their natural environments animals are accustomed to fending for themselves. Truthfully, a stray dog or feral cat can also take care itself, but this can prove to be unsafe and unhealthy to the animal or the humans around it. You must also add the nuisance of trash digging and animal over population into the problem. Do to these reasons, shelters were started. They allow animals to be assessed for health, behavior and offers them a warm place with daily meals. This process hopefully leads to a great home for that animal, a home to be properly cared for in and loved. Well, not every pet in need, will end up in a shelter, nor do they all have homes were they can be properly cared for in. But loved, oh yes, they are loved.
Some may argue that if you don’t have the money to care for a pet, than you should not have one. This is a valid opinion and it is definitely one to be discussed, but there are cases where a pet may be part of the care and health of an individual. Cases where a pet is the only friend or trust worthy soul someone has in their life. It could be the companion to a lonely old lady, or the needed heat to sleep on a cold winters night. Pets hold a special place in their owners heart and are not so easy let go or to not have at all, because you have little or no income to provide perfect care for them. Do to these reasons, Angels Help Pets Eat , a pet food pantry for the homeless and less fortunate is started.
Back Ground:
The idea for Angels Help Pets Eat started when, I, Renee’ Dorsey, the owner of Angel’s Love Pet sitting, an In-home pet care service established in 2006, wondered how I could help others through my business. Envisioning a way for the business to give back to the community and help animals in need. I have a deep rooted passion for helping others. In elementary school I volunteered to be a “Peer Counselor” to a mentally challenged student, a daily help to the teacher. As a college student (at JU) I became a part of a community service oriented organization called Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority inc. and also participated in “Best Buddies” ( a program similar to Big Brothers/Sisters but for the mentally challenged). My heart carried me further into helping others, when as a recent college graduate, I dedicated 1.5 years of my life living on poverty level as an Ameri-Corp Vista (a program similar to the Peace Corps, with projects in the USA). My project focus was literacy and I started Bonding Education And Reading Success (B.E.A.R.S) Literacy Program.
Being a true animal lover, a veterinary technician of 10 years, and a current pet business owner, I want to help animals in need. As a person who has lived on poverty level, been broke for months at a time, yet has never not had a pet in my life, I understand the need to care for a pet when you are unable.
What We do:
Angels Help Pets Eat, offers pet food, received from food drives and donations, to programs and centers that help the homeless and less fortunate individuals of our communities . Programs like, Meals On Wheels (Duval and St Johns County), Liberty Center for the Homeless in Jacksonville, Fl. We will distribute the food on a monthly basis for these programs to handout. The food must first be separated, and in some cases broken down and packaged in smaller portions, to be given out. This job is minor compared to the huge benefit it will give to people and their pets. This is a non profit program, that will be funded and ran solely through donations. We will be looking for volunteers and groups to help in this program, and aim to get pet related businesses more involved in the community and its’ pet needs. The economy is tough right now and can more than benefit from this type of program, so be an angel and help pets eat.
Current Donation Sites: subject change monthly
October 12th- November 15th
TBA
How you can help:
Donate food and supplies:
- Bags of dry food (10lbs or less)
- “Pop top” canned food
- Re-sealable treat packages or containers (no glass)
- Tax deductible monetary donations excepted
Individual Volunteer:
-Help package food for distribution
-Drop off packages to local centers/programs
-Pass out fliers in you community
-Host a food drive or take up a collection at you place of employment or church
Business Volunteer:
-Be a host site for donations (a month at a time) and be posted on Angel’s Love Pet sitting’s web site as a donation location (offers new cliental and exposure)
-Make a tax deductible donation of purchased food or the funds to purchase food
-Allow use of space to package goods (may need have a few tables)
Needed materials:
- Donate…
- fliers from print shops or printing certificates
- Call to confirm need
- Rubber-made binds or laundry baskets to use in transport of goods (new or good condition used)
- Storage Shed, to store food in between packaging/distribution
- Signs to display in front of donation sites
- Quart and Gallon Zip Lock Baggies for packaging
- Rubber/latex gloves
Contact: Renee’ Dorsey
Phone: 904-823-9031
Email: ALPS@angelslovepets.com
Web Site: www.angelslovepets.com
Mailing address: 1960 US Hwy 1 So. #184
St. Augustine, Fl 32086
