Keeping Pet Families Together – your support makes all the difference

As we approach 2025, and think about all the pets that will need assistance in the next 12 months, we want to introduce you to a family that is still together due to your foundational support.

Meet Emerald. Her words sum up our purpose so well.

“Keeping people united with loved ones, including pets, is a vital part of helping us stay physically and mentally healthy; it’s also essential for maintaining our ability to stay hopeful, which in turn, is one of the most crucial factors in any kind of recovery from economic or other traumas. I have been unhoused or housing-insecure at any given time for close to a dozen years,” she shares.  

Emerald is currently living in her truck with her two dogs, Avery “Mouse” Lee (left) and Pantera (right). This family receives pet food and supplies at our Denver area locations.

“As a public health student and something of a medical resource liaison for my peers in the homeless community, I’ve both formally studied and witnessed firsthand the impacts of family separation on people in chronic trauma populations like ours.”

Families like Emerald, Mouse and Pantera are able to stay together thanks to the resources they receive from Colorado Pet Pantry, which you make possible.

Can you help pets like Mouse and Pantera stay with their loving families, with a monthly gift or one-time donation?

A gift of any size at any time is always deeply appreciated and impactful. If dividing your donation into 12 months is possible, so that you can become a monthly recurring donor, that is very powerful for these three vital reasons:

1. In 2025 we plan to host at least 341 pet food pantries that are “open to the public” (additionally, we provide food for our “mini pet food pantries” where a partner organization distributes the food). This type of assistance requires ongoing, consistent support. Pledging a monthly donation allows us to plan ahead and continue to be the stable resource that pet families need.

2. When you invest in our mission each month, you are part of the ongoing solution to prevent pets from ever entering rescues or shelters. Animal shelters often face high costs and limited resources to re-home pets, while pets themselves endure the emotional trauma of being displaced. Your monthly gift helps save shelters funds, food, and time; helping to ensure families receive the support they need, and saving pets from unnecessary stress while keeping them where they belong — with their loving people.

3. The best reason to pledge your support right now? A generous donor is challenging us to secure 40 monthly recurring donors by midnight on Tuesday, December 31st, and in turn is matching each new or increased monthly commitment of $25 or more with a donation of $250. This opportunity expires at midnight on New Year’s Eve. We need 3 more donors to meet this challenge. Please help pet families like Emerald’s and pledge your support today.

We are deeply grateful for your support whether monthly or one-time. Every contribution — no matter the size — will advance our mission to support Colorado’s pets and the families who love them in 2025. From feeding a pet for a month with just $5, to ensuring families like Emerald’s can stay together, your generosity makes a difference to those in need. 

Wishing you a wonderful New Year, and sending a huge thank you for your continued dedication to help others. YOU make the world a better place.
~ the Colorado Pet Pantry team


Monthly Giving Match

Last week we made Colorado Pet Pantry history by raising $179,000 on Colorado Gives Day to support struggling pet families across the state. This achievement was only possible because of your generosity–thank you! While we celebrated this success, we also came up short of our $200,000 goal, a number we set for a reason. Over the past 11 years, we’ve seen a consistent increase in the need across every region of Colorado.

Now, thanks to a generous opportunity from one of our amazing supporters, we have a $10,000 match to help us achieve this goal by the end of the year.

Monthly donations provide consistent, reliable support, which allows us to plan ahead, meet growing demand, and ensure families never have to choose between feeding themselves or feeding their pets.

Already donating through our website? Instructions to increase your monthly donation found here.

How to Start Your Monthly Donation

  • Visit coloradogives.org/donate/pet
  • Select MONTHLY
  • Select AMOUNT ($25 or more) 
  • Our Monthly Giving Match will automatically kick in $250 on your behalf

Stories of Impact – December 2024

You have SAVED us from parting each other’s company!” says Kathryn in Boulder when asked how Colorado Pet Pantry’s pet food assistance affected her pet family, consisting of both this beautiful orange kitty, plus the two kitties and dogs below.

In Boulder, we partner with human food bank, Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA). We are thankful for our supporters and partners who make helping multi-pet families such as Kathryn’s, possible.

My four rescues. Thank you for helping me keep them fed and healthy!” Kenna in Cortez shares.

In our opinion, this picture shows everything we want to see. Beautiful, loved and healthy pets giving their focused attention to the human who loves them. Our Cortez location opened up this year along with our satellite warehouse, serving the Four Corners Region in Colorado. There is a large need for pet food assistance in this area and we are honored to be able to meet this need on a consistent basis.

I am so very grateful for all of you. I have been down for the last now three months, struggling for food. You guys gave my girls a month and a half of food and treats you didn’t shame me for needing help…” Blu and Moo’s Mom, Dianne shares.

These two dogs join us at our Lafayette pet food pantry, in partnership with Sister Carmen. Anyone can fall on hard times for any number of reasons. Colorado Pet Pantry notoriously has some of the most gracious animal lovers in existence, but on top of that, our volunteers are there because they want to help fellow pet parents maximize the level of care they give their pets. We are not here to shame or judge anyone for their circumstance. We are here because if you need pet food, we are more than happy to supply you with that bag of dog or cat food, to help you bridge the gap until your next paycheck.

I have utilized your services once and it was incredibly helpful! Being in a situation where I could use the support the Colorado Pet Pantry provides was humbling, however, your staff was so nonjudgmental, kind and thorough that it made the experience peaceful. Saving even $50 a month right now helps a lot and the donations I received certainly exceeded that value. The thoughtfulness of your organization is exceptional.” Kris from Thornton shares.

When we reached out to clients this October, this photo of Bella was one of the first to come in. Opening the email and seeing the backlit beauty of this calico feline took our breath away. And the personal moment that her mother, Kris, shared about her one and only experience with Colorado Pet Pantry was the perfect testimonial of why we exist.

Many people often find themselves in a financial predicament and do not know where to turn. We work hard to make sure Colorado pet families know we exist, so they can sleep easy at night. If you need pet food, we are here for you. We have 28 open-to-the-public locations where those in need of pet food can simply show up and walk away with what they need. We partner with human food pantries to target our services to low-income populations. We plan to be there for pet families well into the future and we thank our donors, partners and volunteers for supporting our mission in this pet-loving state. Our impact is felt by many of our clients during the hardest times in their lives. To be a small beacon of hope for some pet families is simply an honor.


December 2024 Impact Report

At Colorado Pet Pantry, each year is an opportunity to strengthen our mission and reach more pets and families across Colorado. In 2024, we expanded our services, deepened partnerships, and continued the focus on ensuring pets remain with the people who love them.



Our numbers tell a story of resilience and growth as we expand our reach and respond to the evolving needs of Colorado’s communities.

This year, we’ve seen increasing need across the state as more families face economic uncertainty. Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to keep pace with demand, preventing the heartbreak of pet surrender for thousands of Colorado households.

We’ve made a significant impact on the animal welfare community by helping fellow nonprofits stretch their budgets, directing more resources toward medical care and re-homing efforts.

*129,497 pounds of food is a subset of total food number listed in pet food assistance section



100% of the pet food we distribute is generously donated by individuals, businesses, and pet food brands. In 2024, we redirected one million pounds of quality pet food, often near best by dates or with blemished packaging, preventing waste, and helping feed pets in need.
See where your donations have made an impact:

Read more about these pet food pantries here.


Spotlight on Key Pet Food Pantries

100% of the pet food we distribute is generously donated by individuals, businesses, and pet food brands. In 2024, we redirected one million pounds of quality pet food, often near best-by dates or with blemished packaging, preventing waste, and helping feed pets in need.

See where your donations have made an impact:

Grand Junction: We reached the Western Slope of Colorado in 2020 with the formation of our Grand Junction/Clifton pet food pantry. With coordination between Western Slope Food Bank of the Rockies and Clifton Christian Church, this pet food pantry has grown to be the largest location we have.

Summit County Pet Food Pantry: The newest and only expansion of 2024, we are excited to partner with another pet food pantry in an effort to serve the area of Summit County, just beyond the Continental Divide of Colorado. This area hosts a large population of pet-families, many of whom are not able to take advantage of low-income services, due to owning pets. We are here to assist these families with essential pet food needs in an effort to keep families in this region together.

We Don’t Waste – Bruce Randolph School in Denver: Our largest location on the Front Range of Colorado, opened in November 2020. Since its inception, we have distributed over 159,363 pounds of dry food, 30,775 cans of wet food to 5,789 families and their 14,715 pets. To accomplish this, we partner with We Don’t Waste, a nonprofit specializing in human food distribution, to create a one-stop-shop for the entire family (humans and pets alike) to receive pet food assistance.

Alamosa County Fairgrounds – La Puente’s Food Bank Network of San Luis Valley: Stretching across the South Central region of Colorado is the San Luis Valley. Our pet food pantry, hosted at the local fairgrounds, in partnership with Dumb Friends League and La Puente’s Food Bank Network of San Luis Valley is a valued resource for pet owners in this area. Where the pet to human ratio is 4:1, these families need all the help they can get to keep their pets at home, and prevent the possibility of relinquishment to the over-crowded shelters.

Towaoc – Ute Mountain Reservation: 386 miles from our Englewood Warehouse, over six mountain passes, we reach the Ute Mountain Tribal Lands and our furthest location from our Front Range hub. This pet food pantry has received almost 100,000 pounds of kibble since its inception in January 2021.