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The Philanthropic Effort by PetSmart has Generated Nearly 6,800 Tonnes of Pet Food; 3,684 Tonnes Already Donated to Thousands of Destinations
PetSmart announced that it has wrapped up its Buy a Bag, Give a Meal programme where the retailer donated a meal to a pet in need for every bag of dog or cat food purchased between 1 March – 31 December, 2017. The programme beat its goal of 60 million meals with more than 63 million meals generated. The Buy a Bag, Give a Meal programme is the largest philanthropic initiative in the brand’s 30-year history and is among the largest pet food donation efforts the industry has seen.
“We are so pleased that, together with our shoppers who bought dog and cat food bags at our stores and our website, we’ve not only met, but exceeded our goal of donating 60 million meals. To date we’ve distributed about 35 million meals to help feed hungry pets in need, and we expect to deliver the remaining 29 million to pet shelters and rescues, as well human food banks, pantries and meal programmes across the U.S. and Canada in the first half of 2018,” said Joshua Kanter, PetSmart’s Executive Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience.
The delivery of such a large-scale volume of donated food presented significant logistical challenges for PetSmart. In collaboration with nonprofit partner, PetSmart Charities, who is teaming up with nonprofits GreaterGood.org’s Rescue Bank and Feeding America, the donated pet food has been, and will continue to be, efficiently distributed to thousands of destinations to help feed hungry pets in need across the U.S. and Canada.
Pet food is a rare offering at food banks and pantries, and pet families in need often feed scarce human food to their pets. A unique aspect of the programme is that it provides pet food to human food banks, pantries, and meal programmes so that families in need can secure food for every member of the family, including their dogs and cats.
To date, PetSmart and its partners have delivered 35 million meals—about 3,684 tonnes—of pet food via 188 semi-lorries to pets in need across the U.S. and Canada. The remaining more than 3,000 tonnes of pet food will be delivered in 2018 totalling more than 63 million meals, nearly 6,800 tonnes, across about 340 lorry-loads.
As a point of reference, using a standard six-inch pet food bowl, more than 63 million meals lined up beside each other would span from New York City to Los Angeles and back again – covering 6,000 miles. The nearly 6,800 tonnes of pet food is about the same weight as 959 elephants and could fill 2.5 Olympic-sized pools.
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