Pittsburgh’s Northside Pet Food Pantry Seeking Monthly Volunteers, Donations. Are You Willing to Drive Pet Food Distributions to Your Neighbors?

Immediate Need for 120 lbs or 24 five pound bags

The Dr. John P. Ruffinng VMD pet food pantry needs some volunteers for specific driving tasks to remain open. The main one is a 20 minute commitment.

We distribute to X amount of people each Sunday dividihng our total caretakers into different weeks. The pantry itself and the distribution spot are two blocks apart in Manchester, meaning we have to haul the distributions. Neither of us has a vehicle so we use wagons. Multiple trips. As the weather grows warmer, that’s going to be increasingly challenging.

Requests for pet food are increasing but the number of Sundays in a month are not …

We are looking for volunteers with vehicles to commit to one Sunday each month for this simple task – we’ll load and unload. We can schedule between 10 AM and 12 PM to protect your valuable time.

We have other related needs – delivery of food, pickup donations, etc.

But our Sunday pet pantry pals are the leading priority.

I created this form, if you are interested: https://forms.gle/MBQf7jxboGSXLC1N9

As usual we need donations of pet food. We will not be distributing canned food during the hot months (June-Sept) because the temperatures in the distribution bins are pretty intense. This is necessary, but it does cut back on the distributions. Increasing our supply of dry cat food is important.

We need an extra 150 lbs of dry food each month this summer, preferably in small bags.

Summer also means bugs and a lot of bird poop. Disposable paper products are ESSENTIAL – paper plates, bowls, and paper towels in particular. They are on our wishlist, but you can also drop at our donation bins.

You can continue to donate canned food that we will use in the fall and winter months. The pantry itself has appropriate storage.

Anything you can do to support these families and caretakers is appreciated. Here’s how

Donations can be dropped to:

1213 W. North Avenue Pittsburgh 15233 (steps to the bins)
1440 Faulsey Way 15233 (a backyard address so there’s no house)

Look for the yellow #PghCatFolx yard signs and patio bins

You can register for the food pantry at bit.ly/PetFolxPetFoodPantry Don’t let me deter you – just help you have realistic expectations and sometimes we may have a waiting list. But our neighbors are generous and good.

So the most immediate needs are:

Dry cat food in 3-5 lb or other small bags (Need extra 120 lbs per month)
Bulk packages of paper towels (Need 40 rolls per month)
Paper bowls and plates, any size. Leftovers from a party? Perfect. The cats enjoy festive decor or basic colors. They are flexible. Throw in the leftover napkins, too.
Two patio bins to properly store the distribution overflow
Two large 32 gallon trash cans with locking lids in excellent condition

It is a real honor to do something so tangible for our neighbors. They are great people – we’ve been able to consolidate trips thanks to 4 caretakers with cars being willing to deliver to their neighbors each month. That’s 9 total households, but only 4 car trips – how green are we?

We can typically rehome most gently used cat items. A few things we cannot accept are used litter pans, pillows, comforters, and anything that hasn’t been laundered. We just immediately put those items in the trash so it would be best if you did that yourself.