Hi,
I'm new here so sorry if this isn't the right forum to post this on.
I'm a foster volunteer for a cat shelter in the greater Boston area. Since we function on donations only (no state or federal funding), we try to get food for the cats in the shelter donated so all our money can to go vet bills for our sick and abused cats. The director is even so dedicated that she dumpster dives outside of the big box stores for food! Anyways, supplies are getting short, so I'm helping to locate some chow for our felines. I applied in Feb. to Rescue Bank, and only after I submitted the application did they tell me that they can only help if our shelter is 1.5 hours or closer to a distribution center (NYC is the closest). I was not pleased that they waited until I spent all this time on the application before telling me it was futile; I even followed up with an e-mail to confirm this. I sent an inquiry to FreeKibble and haven't heard back-their website is all about how great they are but there is no info on how to apply for help. Banfield trust says something about food grants but I couldn't find anything specific, so I inquired there too but haven't gotten an answer. Purina gives away food but you have to be within 50 miles of a distribution center (which Boston isn't). Hills has a program but you have to only give the shelter cats Hills from now on (which feels a little like selling my soul to the man).
My question: does anyone have any other suggestions on the national level? If you happen to live in Mass, anything local? Any companies that actually are willing to expend some energy in giving food away? Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance.
I'm new here so sorry if this isn't the right forum to post this on.
I'm a foster volunteer for a cat shelter in the greater Boston area. Since we function on donations only (no state or federal funding), we try to get food for the cats in the shelter donated so all our money can to go vet bills for our sick and abused cats. The director is even so dedicated that she dumpster dives outside of the big box stores for food! Anyways, supplies are getting short, so I'm helping to locate some chow for our felines. I applied in Feb. to Rescue Bank, and only after I submitted the application did they tell me that they can only help if our shelter is 1.5 hours or closer to a distribution center (NYC is the closest). I was not pleased that they waited until I spent all this time on the application before telling me it was futile; I even followed up with an e-mail to confirm this. I sent an inquiry to FreeKibble and haven't heard back-their website is all about how great they are but there is no info on how to apply for help. Banfield trust says something about food grants but I couldn't find anything specific, so I inquired there too but haven't gotten an answer. Purina gives away food but you have to be within 50 miles of a distribution center (which Boston isn't). Hills has a program but you have to only give the shelter cats Hills from now on (which feels a little like selling my soul to the man).
My question: does anyone have any other suggestions on the national level? If you happen to live in Mass, anything local? Any companies that actually are willing to expend some energy in giving food away? Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Does your shelter have a FaceBook page? I follow quite a few FB pages for animal shelters and the people often include a link to their Amazon & Chewy.com wishlists. I have been able to occasionally ( I support several feral cat colonies myself) donate via AmazonSmile. I have seen some truly heartwarming results for those dedicated volunteers who are determined to help as many cats as they can.
