GLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK TO RECEIVE SEMI TRUCKLOAD OF 39,900 POUNDS OF DONATED PET FOOD NEARLY 190,000 MEALS – FROM PETSMART’S BUY A BAG, GIVE A MEAL™ PROGRAM
Pet Food is a Rare Offering at Food Banks and Pantries; Pet Families in Need Often Feed Human Food to Pets or Face Impossible Decision to Surrender Pets; Massive Pet Food Donation Aimed at Feeding Hungry Pets in Need, Keeping Metro Detroit-Area Pets with their Families
When: Wednesday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m. – 12 noon
Where: Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan, 2131 Beaufait Street, Detroit, Mich., 48207
What: In an effort to keep families together through challenging times, PetSmart’s Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program is donating nearly 40,000 pounds of pet food (190,000 pet food meals)to Gleaners Community Food Bank (Gleaners) — its largest pet food donation in its 40-year history. A 53-foot semi-truck loaded with 50 pallets of pet food will be delivered on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017.
This significant pet food donation is from PetSmart’s Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program, where for every bag of dog or cat food purchased in its1,500-plus stores or online through Dec. 31, 2017, the retailer will donate a meal to a pet in need. Through this historic program, which PetSmart launched in celebration of its 30th anniversary this year, it expects to donate 60 million meals* – nearly 13 million pounds – to pets in need at hundreds of animal welfare agencies across North America, as well as human food banks, pantries and meal programs.
Pet food is a rare offering at food banks and pantries across America, and pet families in need often feed their pets human food that may already be scarce for their family, or face the impossible decision of surrendering their pet because they can’t afford to feed them.
And yet, studies show that people need their pets more than ever when facing life’s challenges. The human-animal bond is a powerful source of unconditional love and support for families. In fact, in a recent PetSmart Charities-commissioned survey, 94 percent of respondents agreed that pets are essential to maintaining good mental and physical health. That’s why PetSmart, together with its nonprofit partner PetSmart Charities, wants to help keep people and pets together through this massive pet food donation that will help Metro Detroit families who may rely on food banks or pantries to now have access to delicious, nutritious food for their four-legged family members.
To get the significant pet food donation to hundreds of agencies in local markets across North America, like Gleaners, PetSmart is working with nonprofit partner, PetSmart Charities, the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, which is teaming up with GreaterGood.org’s Rescue Bank program and Feeding America, two renowned national nonprofit organizations. These organizations are getting the pet food quickly and efficiently to hungry pets in need.
Gleaners is a Feeding America affiliate and supports more than 534 nonprofit agencies such as food pantries and meal programs across the Detroit metro area and southeastern Mich. Now the food bank will help feed hungry pets too and help keep families together.
The food bank will begin distribution of the pet food Wednesday, Sept. 6, to its partner agencies who will come by the food bank to pick up loads of the 38-pound bags.
Two additional semi-truckloads of donated pet food from PetSmart will be delivered later this year and into 2018.
Photo Ops:
- The massive pet food donation stored in the Food Bank — 50 pallets totaling 39,900 pounds and 190,000 pet food meals for hungry pets in the Detroit area.
- Local PetSmart store team helping to load nonprofit agencies’ vehicles with the 38-pound bags of donated pet food. These nonprofits agencies operate food pantries and meal programs, and are served by Gleaners Community Food Bank.
Interviews:
- Gleaners agency partners sharing what this donation means to the clients they serve in the local Detroit Area.
- Gleaners representative commenting on the local impact of this significant pet food donation.
- PetSmart and PetSmart Charities discussing the Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program and its impact on pets in need.
Call-to-Action:
- People in the local Detroit area can continue to help pets in need through PetSmart’s Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program – buy bags of dog and cat food at PetSmart and the retailer will donate a meal to a pet in need for every bag sold.
Contact: Virginia Hock
469.387.3072
For more information on the Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program, please visit PetSmart.com/giveameal.
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About Gleaners Community Food Bank
For 40 years, Gleaners Community Food Bank has been “feeding hungry people and nourishing our communities.” Last year, Gleaners distributed more than 38 million pounds of emergency food to 534 partner schools, soup kitchens, shelters and pantries in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties. Of every dollar donated, Gleaners uses 95 cents for food and food programs. One dollar provides three meals for a hungry neighbor. https://www.gcfb.org
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they, together, can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 55,000 associates, operate more than 1,500 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as more than 200 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as pet-focused services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart® Doggie Day Camp® and pet adoption. PetSmart, together with non-profits PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, invite more than 3,000 animal welfare organizations to bring adoptable pets into stores so they have the best chance possible of finding a forever home. Through this in-store adoption program and other signature events, PetSmart has facilitated more than 7.4 million adoptions – more than any other brick-and-mortar organization. The company’s portfolio of digital resources for pet parents includes PetSmart.com, OnlyNaturalPet.com, petMD.com, Pawculture.com, AllPaws, an online pet adoption platform that helps potential pet parents find the perfect pet to adopt based on their home, family and lifestyle, as well as BlogPaws, the world’s first pet blogger and influencer network. Through these digital platforms, PetSmart offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the U.S. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, PetSmart launched its Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™ program in March 2017. For every bag of cat or dog food purchased March 1 – Dec. 31, 2017, PetSmart will donate a meal to pets in need and expects to donate more than 60 million meals in 2017*. In May 2017, PetSmart acquired Chewy.com, a leading online retailer of pet food and products in the U.S., which operates as an independent subsidiary.
Find PetSmart on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetSmart
See PetSmart on Instagram: @PetSmart
Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
See PetSmart on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PetSmart
*Ends 12/31/17. 5 oz. dog food, 1.5 oz. cat food donated to PetSmart Charities to feed dogs and cats in need. See details at petsmart.com/giveameal. The actual number of meals donated is based on dog and cat food bags sold. The meal donation estimate is based on historic sales for similar time periods. No guaranteed amount. Rescue Bank and Feeding America will help distribute a large portion of the pet food donation in the U.S., while four large animal welfare agencies will distribute it in Canada.
About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization with a mission to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In addition to finding homes for almost 500,000 shelter pets each year through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities provides funding to non-profits aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets; and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the pin pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 90 cents of every dollar donated and has become the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, donating about $300 million to date. PetSmart Charities, a 501(c)(3) organization, has received the Four Star Rating from Charity Navigator, an independent organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 14 years in a row — placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
Find PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
See PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc