BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Bakersfield Pet Food Pantry needed to raise $5,000 by the end of January to keep its doors open. Thanks to the citizens of Bakersfield, the pantry will remain open.
The nonprofit learned about changes to its lease agreement with only two weeks to raise the money. Thanks to the rapid amount of donations received though, the pantry raised what it needed to sign its lease and even had some extra to keep them going.
The pantry supports local pet owners who are struggling financially by holding food and supply distributions on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. Each distribution brings out hundreds of pet owners, which is why the pantry was so concerned about shutting down.
Volunteers and those who run the pantry said the response from the public not only says a lot about the work they do but about the community they live in.
“I think it says that there's a lot of animal lovers out there," said Robin Ackling of the Bakersfield Pet Food Pantry. "There's a lot of people that love pets and they want to see the pets stay with their owners, they wanna see the pets stay with the people that they love. For the people who donated what they could, the little bit that they could, they want the same. They want to keep their pets. We definitely fill a need in the community.”
