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SNAP Emergency Allotments Expire

Starting March 1st, 2023, Coloradans, and people throughout the nation, participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) saw their monthly amounts drop drastically as the Emergency Allotments for the SNAP program (Food Stamps) that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end February 28, 2023. On an individual basis, the end of emergency allotments will mean an average loss of $82 in food stamps per person every month, according to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates.

The Emergency Allotments began in March 2020 to help people who lost their jobs, were underemployed, were financially strained due to medical costs, etc. due to COVID-19. After three years, the decision was made to end the Emergency Allotments. Additionally, this is happening at a time when grocery prices are already much higher than normal. This change will affect the human food that is accessible to people, leaving even less money for pet food and pet costs.

That’s where we come in.

How will this affect Colorado Pet Pantry?

Colorado Pet Pantry saw a drastic increase in the amount of people needing pet food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three years later the need has only continued to increase, while donations have recently begun to decrease due to our donors’ economic concerns. We’re already seeing even more people needing help with pet food because more of their sparse funds are needed to feed the human family members.

Colorado Pet Pantry works side by side with human food banks to help make sure the human food goes to the humans and the pet food goes to the pets. “I will feed my pets before I eat…” is a common phrase heard at our organization when those who need pet food reach out.

The human food banks that we partner with have already reported that their human food distributions increased by 30 to 50% in February 2023 alone. And our pet food banks in the past two months have greatly increased in the number of people seeking help. This began the month BEFORE the food stamps decreased. The concern is that this number will dramatically increase in months to come as people and families realize the full affect of the decreased food stamp allotment.

While food stamps cannot be used for pet food, this decrease in food stamps will affect a person’s or family’s overall ability to feed all the members of the family, including ones with paws. Colorado Pet Pantry anticipates that need will greatly increase, beginning NOW.

As pets make their way into our hearts and our homes, they become part of the family. Most of the clients we assist have had their pets for many years, then financial struggles took hold. Pet owners should not have to choose between keeping their pet or feeding their pet.

How can you help?

Monetary donations go a long way. Thanks to our pet food partnerships, we can take just $5 and give a pet a 30-day supply of pet food.

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Volunteering is the backbone of our organization. If we do not have volunteers to run our pet food banks, pick up donations, or help in our warehouse, we do not exist. If you are able to volunteer, we would love to have you!

Volunteer

Sharing about us online helps spread the word about what we are doing and grows our organization. Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up to date with what is happening at Colorado Pet Pantry.

We send out monthly newsletters, if you would like to be a part of our email list, please sign up here.

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Will you be affected by the Emergency Allotment decrease? Do you have questions? Find answers to your questions here.

Client Stories: Tori and Kupka

Sweet Kupka is a 15 year old kitty from Boulder and his human, Tori, visits the EFAA Pet Food Bank. Like many older cats, Kupka requires a substantial amount of wet food in order to thrive. Tori is on Social Security and a very tight budget. She shares, “We are grateful that Colorado Pet Pantry is able to help us through the generosity of their supporters.”

In 2022, Colorado Pet Pantry distributed over 213,000 cans of wet food across the entire state of Colorado. Through the generosity of its donors, Colorado Pet Pantry has been able to ensure many cats like Kupka get the nutrition they need in order to stay healthy and happy. If you would like to make a donation visit coloradopetpantry.org/donate today.

Creative Ways to Help Colorado Pet Pantry

Connect Your King Soopers/City Market Card

Did you know you can support Colorado Pet Pantry just by doing your regular shopping at King Soopers or City Market? When you add us as your charity of choice, King Soopers/City Market will donate a portion of what you spend directly to us. In the fourth quarter of 2022, 601 enrolled households helped us raise $5,312 in donations! Visit the King Soopers/City Market page, create your account and sign up today.

Start a Facebook Fundraiser

Creating a Fundraiser on Facebook is very easy. This is a great way to not only raise funds for your favorite nonprofit, but to show your friends what causes matter to you. Facebook generously covers transaction fees for nonprofits in their online fundraiser. Visit Facebook’s Fundraiser Instructions today and learn how to set up your fundraisers.

Donate Your Colorado State Tax Refund

If you’re expecting a Colorado state income tax refund this year, we hope you’ll consider donating some or all of it to Colorado Pet Pantry. Colorado makes it easy to donate your refund to the charity of your choice. When you file your taxes this year, add our registration number, 20123031891, on the Voluntary Contributions Schedule (DR 0104CH) of your Colorado Individual Income Tax Return. Learn more about this easy to use and much appreciated program.

Share us on Social Media

Social media is a fast and cost-effective way for us reach a larger audience. When you follow (or “like”) us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and share our content, it allows us to reach and engage with an even larger audience. The more people we reach, the more people and pets we are able to help! It’s an easy and free way to help us share information and gain followers and supporters. Please help us by following us and sharing our posts! Learn more here.

Stories – Christa and Bentley

In October 2021, Christa acquired her special friend and companion, Bentley. She refers to him as a cuddle bug but he is so much more than that, because Christa also has Diabetes. “I wouldn’t trade him for the world,” Christa shares, “He lets me know when my blood sugar is out of control, wakes me up when my breathing stops, and even acted strangely before I had a tachycardia episode. He can make me smile on days when depression is bad. He brightens every day.”

As a medical assistance dog, Bentley is the BEST. Christa literally cannot live without this boy. “The expense of training and keeping a dog healthy is challenging. The Colorado Pet Pantry helps immensely,” Christa says.

Christa joins us every other month at our Grand Junction pet food bank on the Western Slope of Colorado where she is able to get Bentley the pet food he needs to thrive.

In December, 2020, Colorado Pet Pantry finally crossed the Continental Divide and opened the Grand Junction/Clifton pet food bank. Over the past couple years, this has turned into one of our busiest locations. On an average month, we distribute 4,600 lbs of dry pet food to 155 families, helping them keep their 485 pets in their loving homes and out of shelters.

We would not be able to do this every single month if it weren’t for our amazing supporters. We are working hard to grow our network of supporters, volunteers and donors on the Western Slope. You can help support our operations on the Western Slope (or anywhere in Colorado) by donating funds, pet food, or time. Together we can assist all the Bentley’s in Colorado, to be sure they have the ability to stay in their homes with their loving humans forever.

From Donation to Distribution – Your Gift Matters

There are a lot of moving pieces to Colorado Pet Pantry. All branches of our organization must work together to bring each pet food donation into the food bowls where it’s needed most.

Here, we would like to show you the real impact of your support — from your donation to our pet food distribution, your gift keeps families together. 

Meet Bill. Bill, his dog, and two cats, join us from one of our busiest pet food banks in Southern Colorado (check out the video of the patient and extensive line from Dec 2022 at this Trinidad, CO pet food bank). He shares about what our program means to his family. “Grateful doesn’t cover the work your volunteers do. We lost our home in Texas after a tornado. Then we lost our income due to COVID. We had the opportunity to move to Colorado and help provide care for our elderly family.”

Bill began using utilizing the pet food assistance program in August, 2022. The pet food bank itself started in May of 2021. Reaching this community required all the moving pieces of Colorado Pet Pantry to work seamlessly together. Partnerships were developed with the human food bank, Care and Share of Southern Colorado, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the City Shelter in Trinidad, Noah’s Ark Animal Welfare Association. By partnering with human food banks, and planning our pet food banks along side their distribution days, we are able to quickly reach our target clientele. This makes it easy for those who need pet food assistance to receive food without adding an extra stops to their day. 

The task of bringing over 5,000 pounds of pet food each month to Trinidad and efficiently distributing it to 200 families takes a lot of coordination and funds. It begins with our pet food donations at the Colorado Pet Pantry Warehouse. The food is then sorted by staff and volunteers, loaded onto pallets and coordinated into pickups by a large box truck. We purchase the required fuel, schedule the deliveries (we ship to several locations in Southern Colorado), gather many passionate Colorado Pet Pantry volunteers (we always need more help in Trinidad), and make the magic happen. We anticipate this pet food bank, as well as all our other locations to continue to grow as we head into the future. Because of this, we need your help.

Your gift of $5, $50, or $500 will make a huge difference to the pets who are able to stay with their humans through these tough times. 

“The help with pet food has been a blessing,” Bill says, “These are the pets who benefit from your kindness.”

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Colorado Gives Day is Almost Here – Help Make an Impact

People and pets need each other most when times are hard.
2022 has been hard on so many. We haven’t increased locations this year because we grew so much in 2020-2021 to meet the increased need during the pandemic. But, just at our existing 103 pet food bank locations, we’ve seen more than 15% more people coming to our pet food banks in the past year.
A donation of any size can help make a huge and immediate difference in someone’s life… and can make an even bigger impact if you schedule it in the next 3 days. All donations made through Colorado Gives’ platform before midnight on December 6th are partially matched– thanks to the $1.4 Million Plus Incentive Fund created to help support Colorado nonprofits.

A donation of any size helps people like Christina get through tough times. “My relationship with the Colorado Pet Pantry started through the relationship my mother established with them. About 10 years ago, our family cat (Grimlin) had to undergo a major surgery called a Cystotomy for bladder stones. Bladder stones are actually a common ailment in domesticated cats. They form from certain components that are found in regular cat foods among other factors.
Colorado Pet Pantrystarted through the relationship my mother established with them. About 10 years ago, our family cat (Grimlin) had to undergo a major surgery called a Cystotomy for bladder stones. Bladder stones are actually a common ailment in domesticated cats. They form from certain components that are found in regular cat foods among other factors.
After Grimlin’s Cystotomy, he was put on a strict prescription food diet. As some of you may know, prescription pet food is very expensive. My mom, who is physically disabled due to an injury she sustained at work years ago, did an amazing job caring for all three of our family cats, but being able to afford the prescription food was just too much. She found the Colorado Pet Pantry, and they immediately ensured she had a monthly supply of both wet and dry prescription cat food every month. My direct relationship with Colorado Pet Pantry started about 4 years ago after I saved a set of twin boy cats (Anubis and Sphynx) from an abusive and neglectful home. Shortly after taking them into my care, Sphynx started having the same symptoms that Gremlin did and had to undergo a Cystotomy as well. He was placed on the same prescription diet, and I was relieved because I knew immediately where to turn. At the time I was in college full-time and only working part-time, so my financial situation wasn’t ideal for being able to afford what he needed. As soon as I reached out to the Colorado Pet Pantry, I received the same wonderful treatment and was quickly provided with the prescription pet food I needed for Sphynx on a regular basis. Sadly, both Grimlin and Sphynx have crossed the rainbow bridge recently, but their lives were extended greatly because of what Colorado Pet Pantry was able to do for us. The impact that Colorado Pet Pantry has made, and continues to make on our lives is a true blessing. Every interaction I’ve had with people associated to the Colorado Pet Pantry, have been ones filled with compassion and true kindness. Whether the need is for very specific prescription food, regular food, or even supplies and enrichment tools, the Colorado Pet Pantry will make sure they provide what you and your pets need. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Colorado Pet Pantry for what you do for us and our pets.”

Watch this video from our volunteer and former client, Dianne. Dianne started volunteering with us about six or seven years ago. She was getting food for herself at a human food bank when she discovered our services and was so grateful that she decided she wanted to give back… watch here.

Join us and other animal lovers across Colorado in coming together to support the nonprofits that make a difference in our lives. We would be so grateful if you would consider making an amplified donation to Colorado Pet Pantry to help us keep pets with their loving families.

Sincerely,

~ Your friends at Colorado Pet Pantry

Join us for GivingTuesday and Colorado Gives Day

As we celebrate GivingTuesday today, and with Colorado Gives Day just one week away, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight just a few examples of the impact that YOUR support has made in our community this past year.

Your donations and volunteer hours have directly helped thousands of Colorado Pet Pantry clients this year. Including Bradley who sent us this message: “I had recently fallen upon hard times and was desperate to feed my service dog who had just finished her last scoop of kibble. I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and and I was unemployed at the time with absolutely no resources. I sent one email and immediately received a call back and was given the most sincere help and attention. Talk about a lifesaver. Quite literally. The day after I received the food,  I had a heart attack. I was unable to be at home with my service dog and thankfully I had enough food that the neighbor could feed her while I was recovering in the Intensive Care unit at the hospital. Thank you so very much for your wonderful team and volunteers.”

Your response to our call for help during times of crisis have been overwhelming. On the morning of December 30, 2021 when the Marshall Fire started, thousands of Boulder County residents were forced out of their homes so quickly that they were lucky if they were able to save their pets– very few had time to gather pet food or supplies. You came through with flying colors when we made the request for pet beds. Not only did we receive over 1000 pet beds and other supplies to give out during the two weeks that we had a table set up at the Disaster Assistance Center, but many of you volunteered your time, transportation and other resources to help our fellow community members take care of their fur babies during this extremely tough time. Liz (pictured) and her children lost their home in the fire, and Liz’s mother lost her home as well. The donations and support that you gave to help Liz take care of her two dogs after this tragedy and loss gave her one less worry and put that smile on her face.

You have helped us to expand and support our more rural Colorado communities that are experiencing a significant increase in need. We are now in 31 counties, thanks to your continual support, and we’ve found the need is exceptionally high in the more rural parts of our state. Trinidad, Swansea, Grand Junction, and Pueblo areas have also all experienced a significant increase in need. Most families have three pets, so it costs $15/month for us to help support a whole family that wants to stay together. Your support is helping to make this achievable for these families.

It’s been a hard year for many– clients and donors alike, but even a small donation on this GivingTuesday can make a lasting impact. We’d be so grateful for anything you are able to give.

To make your donation go even further, we’d love it if you’d donate to Colorado Pet Pantry through Colorado Gives Day. All donations placed here through midnight on December 6th will be partially matched.

And while we have your eyes, please take just one minute to nominate us for this $5000 award from SCHEELS. TODAY (Tuesday, November 29) IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE. This award would be a HUGE win for us on Colorado Gives Day. 

Join millions of others around the world today in giving back, spreading kindness and showing how together we can make a difference in our own communities. Your support is what makes all of this possible and we are so grateful.

Help Us Make Raise the Woof! a Success!

It’s so impactful when our supporters invite their friends and family to join them in supporting Colorado Pet Pantry. People tend to support causes when they hear good references about the nonprofit. To make this easy, we have written a short email that we’d LOVE for you to send to friends/family. Feel free to edit. You could post on social media too if that’s your preference, though email is more impactful because it’s personal.


Suggested Subject: Join me on October 8th to Raise the Woof!

Hi friends! I wanted to personally invite you to join me at the Colorado Pet Pantry Raise the Woof! Rooftop Party for a Cause, presented by LHM Nissan Arapahoe, on October 8 in downtown Denver. This cause is important to me because of their commitment to helping local communities throughout the state by providing pet food to families and pets in need. One thing I learned that I hadn’t thought of previously was that by partnering with human food banks, CPP helps ensure that the already limited “human” food is reserved for the humans, and that pets receive balanced/healthy/appropriate meals. (Did you know that people cannot buy pet food with food stamps?! So when times are tight, either the pets are hungry or people are sharing their own food to feed their dogs and cats.)
I hope you’ll consider joining me for a fantastic night at the X Denver in downtown Denver next month at Colorado Pet Pantry’s largest fundraiser of the year: Raise the Woof! Please get your tickets and come out to support this amazing non-profit. There will be live music and plenty of delicious cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Plus, good friends are always good for a good time! 🙂 https://www.coloradopetpantry.org/woof
And if you can’t make it this year, please forward this information about Raise the Woof! to your pet-minded friends, families and networks… Every additional person that attends will help the organization to feed 20 dogs and cats for a full month.
Hope to see you October 8!

September – Applewood Furnace Check

Our wonderful friends at Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric have once again selected Colorado Pet Pantry as a program recipient for their Furnace Checks for Charity program this year! They are offering an amazing deal for the month of September that you won’t want to miss.

If you schedule your 14-Point “Energy Squeezer” furnace systems check from Applewood during the month of September and mention Colorado Pet Pantry, 100% of your payment goes straight to Colorado Pet Pantry. Woof! Woof!

Normally a $199 service, Applewood offers this to our supporters for just $99. Schedule your service today by calling (303) 232-6611.

Record Breaking Pet Food Banks Continue in Southeastern Colorado

The line consistently long at our June 2022 Alamosa Pet Food Bank in partnership with La Puente’s Food Bank

Sometimes the line is never ending. This has been the story of our Southeastern Colorado Pet Food Banks. In the last week of June we distributed over 16,000 lbs of dry pet food to families in need in Trinidad, Cañon City, Alamosa and Pueblo. The need has been skyrocketing and doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon. We often feel the need for pet food decrease in the summer, but not this year. So many hardships are affecting our communities today, and we are doing our best to be there for them. We are only able to be there because of our amazing volunteers and supporters, but the supply chain is affecting us and the amount of donations we receive. Pet food brands are making less food each year after 2+ years of having fewer operational factories. Add to this inflation and general unease, and we find ourselves asking for more help.


What can you do to help?

  • VOLUNTEERS: We need a lot more volunteers in these areas. Especially Trinidad and Alamosa. If you know someone or would like to volunteer, please sign up HERE.
  • PET FOOD DRIVES: Donations are down and we are struggling to keep up with the rising need. We recently lowered our food distributions per family at our pet food banks, and even after capping the food amounts we have only seen the totals rise. We are now looking to our supporters to help their communities by hosting pet food drives. You can host a physical pet food drive or a virtual one. Click HERE to learn more about how.
  • DONATIONS: Running a pet food bank has many associated costs. Storage, staff, gas, and shipping costs have all gone up in the last couple of years. But these are expenses that are vital to our organization. Donating to us through our website, HERE, is an easy way to give. And thanks to our pet food partnerships, just donating $5 can feed a dog or cat for an entire month.
Some of the pets we helped and volunteers who helped us at our three very busy Southeastern Colorado Pet Food Banks this June 2022.

#VolunteerAppreciationWeek

In 2021, 740 Colorado Pet Pantry Volunteers donated 15,154 hours of service to help pets in their communities. This amount of labor is equivalent to a $477,503 donation. It is only because of our volunteers, that we are able to do the work we do. We are forever grateful to them.

Here are some of our amazing volunteers doing their thing throughout the last year!

Leo & Gracie Make Change in Their Community

Inspired by a recent reading of Where the Red Fern Grows, in which the main character saves change in a can in order to purchase two puppies, Leo, a local 10-year-old boy had a vision to collect change in a can to support animals in need. He brought the idea to his sister, 8-year-old Gracie, and together they laid out a plan to launch their first “business” called Funds for Furry Friends.

They started by designing a flyer, with Leo writing the text and Gracie drawing the visual. From there, they took to the streets of their neighborhood—going door to door to kick off their donation campaign. While their goal was originally to collect change—inspired by their cause and initiative, many community members choose to donate in larger sums.

Through their focus and follow through, within just a few days, Leo and Gracie had collected $85 in donations, which will help Colorado Pet Pantry feed 17 pets in need for a full month.

Thank you to Leo and Gracie for your entrepreneurial leadership in service of animals in need—and everyone in their Louisville neighborhood who supported their truly grassroots effort!

2021 – Continuing the Trend

In 2021, we continued the trajectory of exponential growth. We served upwards of over 100,000 pets for an entire month, at over 100 monthly pet food banks across the state. We distributed over 1 million pounds of dry pet food, and 400,000 cans of wet food, to over 32,000 families across Colorado. This equates to 6 million meals for dogs and cats for an entire month. All we can say is WOW!

We realize this type of growth is not sustainable, long term, unless we fulfill our goal for 2022: Stabilize. We are committed to developing strong local partnerships and community bonds this year.

We need more volunteers, donation drop off partner stores, large pet food donors, fiscal sponsors, and animal welfare colleagues willing to work with us across all our new monthly pet food bank locations to make this program permanent.

We are so happy to be serving a much larger population, and we will do all we can to keep our commitment to them.

How can you help?

There are several ways to become an active part of Colorado Pet Pantry.

  • Become a donor – donating to Colorado Pet Pantry is easy, and thanks to our pet food partners, we can take just $5 and stretch it to feed one pet for an entire month.
  • Volunteer at a local pet food bank or fundraising event.
  • If you are in the Denver area, we invite you to join our Warehouse Volunteer Group and help us prepare pet food pallets for our upcoming pet food banks.
  • Know a pet food and supply store or local veterinary office that you think would house a donation bin for us? Email us at kelly@coloradopetpantry.org to find out how you can help facilitate this connection!
  • Start a pet food drive. Many of our food donations come from corporate or private pet food drives. Learn how to host your own pet food drive.

Boulder County Fire Response

Colorado Pet Pantry is working in Boulder County to provide relief to those affected by the recent fires. The response from our community has been incredible. Now that we are a few days out from the disaster, we are taking a moment to assess the current needs of the community and develop a plan to best assist them through this disaster and into the future. We have updates in three major areas:

  1. Schedule of Distribution Events:
    We will update here when we have a new distribution event. Past events will be removed from the list as to keep unnecessary information to a minimum. If you are in need of assistance and cannot make it to any of the listed events, please contact us directly by filling out an Emergency Form or by texting Eileen at 720-441-3111.
    ** We will no longer be at the Boulder Disaster Center. We will have supplies available at the Resource Distribution Center.
    • Open Daily from 9AM to 7PM
    • Nordstrom’s – Flatiron’s Mall in Broomfield between Dick’s Sporting Goods & Macy’s Entrance
    • This is available to anyone affected by the Marshall Fire in Boulder County
  2. Colorado Pet Pantry Donation Needs:
    Right now, monetary donations are critical. What we do requires a substantial amount of funds. This will enable us to pay for items such as storage for donations, gas to distribution events, etc. We also need more volunteers. As we add events, we will post corresponding links for volunteers to sign up. Please click below to see other volunteer opportunities available. We are accepting pet food and supplies. Click on the link below to find a list of locations in your area where you can drop off donations. The biggest need in this area are for new dog beds and toys.
  3. Nonprofit Community Network:
    With a disaster like this, it takes many organizations working together to create the adequate response. Right now, the number one need is monetary donations. Physical donations will be needed in the future, as those affected begin to rebuild their lives. Here are links to several of the nonprofits working to aid those affected by the fires.

If you have an update you would like us to share, please email kelly@coloradopetpantry.org

Holiday Pet Food Bank Schedule

It’s that time of the year! Many of our pet food banks will be on a special schedule for November and December, due to the holiday season. Please check the list below to see when your pet food bank is scheduled. All of these reschedules will be notated on our normal calendar, which can be found at coloradopetpantry.org/foodbank

DECEMBER:

  1. Lynn Garden’s Baptist Church, 3804 W Pueblo Blvd in Pueblo (more info)
    Wednesday, December 15th, 10AM-12PM
  2. EFAA, 1575 Yarmouth Ave in Boulder (more info)
    Thursday, December 16th, 2:30PM-4:30PM
  3. Sharing Ministries, 49 North 1st Street in Montrose (more info)
    Friday, December 17th, 9:30AM-12:30PM
  4. Western Slope Food Bank of the Rockies, 3241 F 1/4 Road in Clifton (more info)
    Saturday, December 18th, 9AM-11AM
  5. Food Bank for Larimer County, 2600 N Lincoln Ave in Loveland (more info)
    Saturday, December 18th, 1PM-3PM
  6. Ordway Pet Food bank, Location TBD in Ordway (more info)
    Monday, December 20th, 2PM-3:30PM
  7. St Michael’s Catholic Church, 1016 Mystic Ave in Cañon City (more info)
    Saturday, January 8th, 10AM-1Pm