HV Pet Food Pantry: Serving Up Compassion for People and Their Pets
What do you do when you find yourself in a difficult financial situation and no longer able to feed your animal companion, the love of your life? Call on the Hudson Valley Pet Food Pantry, of course.
Up until recently that solution was not available, but with the inspiration and hard work of two White Plains residents who found themselves searching for something to do on retirement, Hudson Valley Pet Food Pantry was born.
It’s no secret that more and more people are lining up at food pantries and kitchens to feed themselves and their families. What’s not so apparent is that many pets are suffering the consequences of tough financial times as well.
Rather than see these innocent and very much loved members of families shipped off to the animal shelter, Susan Katz and Kathy Ferri have taken on the task of feeding those most unable to take care of themselves.
The idea started with Katz reading an article about a pet food pantry in Florida. “I thought that was a great idea and began doing research to find out if anything like that existed in our area. There was nothing,” Katz remembers. “I then started investigating how to operate a pantry and there was nothing and no one to help there either,” she said. But once the pair got started things began to fall into place.
“It took only three to four months to get the 501C3 to run a not-for-profit and the legal work was done pro bono. Then we found space in Valhalla and the work of gathering food, setting up procedures, finding funds and volunteers began.
“We figured it out as we went along,” Katz said. Today she has been told by the ASPCA that they are a model for other pet pantries to follow.
Having outgrown their space in Valhalla, the pantry recently relocated to the Ridgeview Congregational Church in White Plains. The room they rent is filled with cans of cat and dog food as well as bags of dry food and other pet items.
There are bags and bins with supplies ready for clients of the pantry who are given enough food to feed their pets for one month. The dollar amount comes to about $30 per customer. There’s a lot of cat food and Friskies brand seems to be very popular.
The client base is not limited to cats and dogs; other small animals are also fed including rabbits, hamsters and Guinea pigs.
About 220 clients are served in two staging events at the Ridgeview location per month. Volunteers help with all aspects of the process, from stocking the shelves and keeping inventory to bagging supplies and making deliveries when necessary.
Ferri is the Director of Operations and runs a very tidy ship. She is also the record keeper. “Clients of the pantry must fill out an in-depth form to prove they own a pet and that they truly have financial need,” she explained. They also provide detailed information about the types of food their pets eat and the pantry does its best to fill every requirement. It means a lot of footwork for Ferri, but she says she enjoys it.
Whatever is not donated during the four or five drives the pantry runs each month is purchased with money donated, and Ferri does all the shopping.
Once a month a satellite operation is set up at the Slater Center in downtown White Plains.
“We find that many of our clients do not have cars. They come by bus and they walk,” Ferri noted. “Our goal is to set up other satellite areas in Mount Vernon and Yonkers, where for three to four hours a month a volunteer can make a spot available for local clients to pick up their supplies.
“We are always looking for volunteers,” Katz said. “We welcome anyone who wants to help. We’ve become like a family and the social interaction of the people who volunteer is very important to them. Working at the pantry is a labor of love.”
To find out more about the Hudson Valley Pet Food Pantry visit http://www.hvpetfoodpantry.org/. Pet food as well as cash donations is greatly appreciated.
