By Deb and Jeff Hanson

Did you know that our food bank helps to feed pets as well as people? With generous donations from residents, a small staff and a group of energetic volunteers, the food bank has done an extraordinary job of expanding their services to help individuals and families during these tough times. And since many families include dogs and cats, they are helping to feed them as well.

The food bank does not purchase pet food with monetary donations. They have always been grateful for donations of pet food in the past, but the need is greater now. Individuals and families are having to stretch every dollar, and after other expenses, it can be hard to have much left for their pets. At last count, there were more than 80 pets in the families served by the Food Bank.

With that in mind, the former and current owners of Pawki’s (the pet store in town) have banded together to help meet this need. From donations to the shop, the owners, Peggy and George Beebe, are purchasing good quality dry dog and cat food at cost to donate. This really helps make the donations go further! Former owners Deb and Jeff Hanson have made a donation to get the program off the ground and are helping to get the word out both about the service that the food bank is providing and to encourage donations to keep pet food available.

The community has shown great generosity during the pandemic through their donations to the many necessary services on the island, but this is one need not yet fulfilled. It takes about $300 a week or $43 a day to provide enough pet food currently for the food bank families.

For those that can help with a donation: please either stop by Pawki’s or, safely from home, send an email to 4paws@pawkis.com indicating how much you’d like to donate and they will email you back an invoice you can pay online with a credit or debit card.

Thank you to everyone who makes this community great, for people… and for pets.