At the end of September 2023, in collaboration with First Call for Help of Itasca County, Great Tails Animal Rescue established a pet food shelf for dogs and cats. Great Tails and First Call are collaborating to manage this pet food shelf for all residents of Itasca County who are in need of dog or cat food.
Since September, the pet food shelf has helped 36 Itasca County families feed 17 dogs, 8 puppies, 32 cats and 26 kittens for a total of 83 pets fed and 801.3 pounds of food distributed. To date, all pet food donated has come from community members. The feedback received by Great Tails for why residents are using the pet food shelf is because they ran short of funds for the month, are waiting on paychecks or are temporarily out of work.
With the collaboration with First Call for Help, the pet shelf has been open and available 24/7 to the public. Recipients of pet food need to sign a waiver and can receive one bag of food per month per species for up to three consecutive months. It is a first-come, first-serve, pick-up program. The pet food shelf is located at 1007 NW 4th Street, Grand Rapids, Minnesota. You can contact Great Tails at 218-398-2979 or First Call for Help at 218-326-8565 with any questions.
The pet food shelf will be operational as long as they continue to receive pet food donations for this program. If you would like to make donations to the pet food shelf, please contact Lacey with Great Tails Animal Rescue at 218-398-2979 or email lpaulley@greattailsanimalrescue.com.
The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation has been connecting donors’ charitable intentions to community needs for almost 30 years to make our Greater Itasca Area a better place to live. For more information, visit our website at www.gracf.org or schedule a visit by calling (218) 999-9100.
