Animal Food Bank, Pet Valu team up to raise money for cat food
By Medicine Hat News on January 31, 2023.
The Animal Food Bank is running a Valentine’s Day fundraiser in conjunction with Pet Valu stores. Cat food is in short supply and they hope to raise $2,000 with a paper heart campaign to buy a pallet of cat food for felines in need. From Feb. 1-14, go into either Pet Valu store in Medicine Hat, make a donation and put your name, your pet’s name, or both on a heart and it will be put up on the wall. On Feb. 11 the Animal Food Bank will be at the Pet Valu located at Medicine Hat Mall to augment the paper heart campaign. “All money raised at the event will stay in-store to buy food. People like that because they know where their money is going. We are also ensuring we are supporting local pet stores so it’s a win-win,” said Nicole Frey, who runs the Animal Food Bank. Bags of pet food can also be dropped off at either Pet Valu location, which have designated boxes that volunteers from the Animal Food Bank come and collect regularly. “I always like to say no donation is too small,” stated Frey. “A can of cat food feeds a cat for a day. That’s better than a cat being hungry. If you want to give $1 to sponsor a paper heart, that is amazing. We love when the community participates because it spreads awareness.” The Animal Food Bank is volunteer-operated and non-funded. With the support of the community, they help ensure pets can stay with their owners. AFB recently polled clients, with 67% replying the pet food they receive from them has meant they don’t have to choose between feeding themselves or their pets. “The bigger one, that I was shocked at, was 56% said they haven’t had to surrender their pets. The work we do closes those gaps,” said Frey. “We are trying to prevent the unnecessary surrender of people’s beloved pets. When people support us, they are supporting that impact.” 10-9
