Kim Carrier drove up to the donation entrance of a St. Paul food shelf this week in a car piled high with bags of dog food. Her unusual gift reflects her unusual mission: to create Minnesota's first network of pet food shelves.
"I sometimes work at a pet supply store, and people laid off would call and ask if there is any place to get free pet food,'' said Carrier, of Minneapolis.
"I Googled and never found anything,'' she said. "So I decided to try to do something myself, and then a lot of other people jumped on board.''
Carrier launched the Pet Project in July. It's part of a fledgling movement nationally to make sure people don't have to choose between keeping food in the kitchen or Fido in the living room.
With more than 200,000 Minnesotans laid over the past year, plus the elderly and disabled on fixed incomes, the pool of Minnesotans who could benefit is enormous, said Carrier.
But to date, pet food donations have been limited to sporadic drives by charities, pet food stores or humane societies, said local humane societies.
"It's great that people do fundraisers a couple times a year, but your dog or cat needs to eat all year,'' said Carrier, who on this day dropped off 500 pounds of pet food at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center food shelf in St. Paul.
"I want to make pet food easy to find and
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Great point joejoe
joejoe says, "It may sound insensitive, but animals are replacable." Great point joejoe! You can also give your kids up for adoption or … read more turn them over to the state if you can't afford to feed them. But seriously joejoe, this is small minded and wrong. It doesn't sound insensitive, it is, and you're not sorry. You don't have to state the painfully obvious to those facing these types of decisions. The real point here is that if these pets are given up they are going to a shelter...so there is still a cost. Why not donate a small amount to keep a pet in a home? There are hundreds of studies showing the benefits that pets bring, especially in times of stress and particularly to children. I am sure we will see tons of negative comments here as the TROLLS come out to play this morning, and I can guarantee you that no one making negative comments in regard to this volunteers or truly supports helping anyone but themselves. The only negative comments are going to be from the normal group who hates it anytime someone gets a hand up, and those in the 'pets are property (things)' group. One day your life will pass before your eyes, make sure there is something there worth watching.
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