Pet Food Express launches annual Fill the Food Bank campaign

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Pet Food Express has launched its annual Fill the Food Bank campaign to help California pet parents with free, nutritious cat and dog food.

According to a company release,¹ Pet Food Express is offsetting the price of pet food hoping to prevent pet owners from relinquishing their companion animals to shelters because of financial difficulties and alleviating rescues and shelters from welcoming an abundance of new animals.

The Fill the Food Bank campaign will run through July 31, 2022, and Pet Food Express will collect monetary donations in its California locations and online at www.petfood.express/fillthefoodbank to directly benefit local pet food banks. All funds will go towards purchasing and distributing 5-lb bags of nutrient-rich, FirstMate cat and dog food. The company has established a 100,000 lb goal for the year and will match the first 10,000 pounds of food with its own donation.¹

"Californians have been hit hard with financial hardship due to first COVID and now inflation," said Megan Kniepkamp, community outreach manager at Pet Food Express, in the release. "The food from our Fill the Food Bank campaign will absolutely help many California pet families to stay together as they navigate a rough patch, and that's important for both the pet and the people."

Each $10 contribution buys a 5-pound bag of FirstMate food. All 24 food banks to receive food from the campaign are low-threshold or open-admission organizations with the sole focus on the welfare of California's pet population.

"Food banks are an essential part of the pet care system," Kniepkamp added. "They reduce the risk of a returned pet to an already over-taxed rescue and shelter system by offsetting the cost of necessary pet care. We want struggling pet owners to know that there is free help available to keep their pets nutritiously fed, cared for, and with them at their home."

Last year, the Fill the Food Bank campaign turned $230,000 in financial contributions into over 124,300 lbs (or 24,860 5-lb bags) of pet food to benefit 20 food banks in California.

Reference

Pet Food Express kicks off annual food drive to help California pet owners. News release. Pet Food Express. July 5, 2022. Accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pet-food-express-kicks-off-annual-food-drive-to-help-california-pet-owners-301580043.html