Together with its Shoppers, PetSmart’s Philanthropic Effort has Generated Nearly 6,800 Tons of Pet Food; 3,684 Tons Already Donated to Thousands of Destinations; Remaining 3,000-Plus Tons to be Delivered Across More than 150 Truckloads in 2018
PHOENIX, AZ, 2018-Jan-05 — /EPR Retail News/ — PetSmart announced today that it has wrapped up its Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program where the retailer donated a meal to a pet in need for every bag of dog or cat food purchased between March 1 – Dec. 31, 2017. The program beat its goal of 60 million meals* with more than 63 million meals generated. The Buy a Bag, Give a Meal program is the largest philanthropic initiative in PetSmart’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 PetSmart.com, we’ve not only met, but exceeded our goal of donating 60 million meals,” said Joshua Kanter, PetSmart’s executive vice president of marketing and customer experience. “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 programs across the U.S. and Canada in the first half of 2018.”
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 program is that it provides pet food to human food banks, pantries and meal programs 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 tons – of pet food via 188 semi trucks to pets in need across the U.S. and Canada. The remaining more than 3,000 tons of pet food will be delivered in 2018 totaling more than 63 million meals, nearly 6,800 tons, across about 340 truckloads.
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 tons of pet food is about the same weight as 959 elephants and could fill 2.5 Olympic-sized pools.
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they, together, can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 55,000 associates, operate 1,600 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as more than 200 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as pet-focused services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart™ Doggie Day Camp™ and pet adoption. PetSmart, together with non-profits PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities® of Canada, invite more than 3,500 animal welfare organizations to bring adoptable pets into stores so they have the best chance possible of finding a forever home. Through this in-store adoption program and other signature events, PetSmart has facilitated more than 7.6 million adoptions – more than any other brick-and-mortar organization. The company’s portfolio of digital resources for pet parents includes PetSmart.com, petMD.com, Pawculture.com, AllPaws, an online pet adoption platform that helps potential pet parents find the perfect pet to adopt based on their home, family and lifestyle, as well as BlogPaws, the world’s first pet blogger and influencer network. Through these digital platforms, PetSmart offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the U.S. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, PetSmart launched its Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™ program in March 2017. For every bag of cat or dog food purchased March 1 – Dec. 31, 2017, PetSmart will donate a meal to pets in need and expects to donate more than 60 million meals in 2017*. In May 2017, PetSmart acquired Chewy.com, a leading online retailer of pet food and products in the U.S., which operates as an independent subsidiary.
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*Ended 12/31/17. 5 oz. dog food, 1.5 oz. cat food donated to PetSmart Charities to feed dogs and cats in need. See details at petsmart.com/giveameal. The actual number of meals donated is based on dog and cat food bags sold. The meal donation estimate is based on historic sales for similar time periods. No guaranteed amount. Rescue Bank and Feeding America will help distribute a large portion of the pet food donation in the U.S.
About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization with a mission to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In addition to finding homes for almost 500,000 shelter pets each year through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities provides funding to non-profits aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets; and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the pin pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 90 cents of every dollar donated and has become the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, donating about $300 million to date. PetSmart Charities, a 501(c)(3) organization, has received the Four Star Rating from Charity Navigator, an independent organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 14 years in a row — placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
Find PetSmart on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetSmart
See PetSmart on Instagram: @PetSmart
Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
See PetSmart on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PetSmart
About PetSmart Charities™ of Canada
PetSmart Charities of Canada is a registered Canadian charity with a mission to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In addition to finding homes for more than 25,000 shelter pets each year through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores, PetSmart Charities of Canada provides funding to registered charities aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets; and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities of Canada using the pin pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 89 cents of every dollar donated and has become a leading funder of animal welfare in Canada, donating nearly $12 million to date. PetSmart Charities of Canada is a member of Imagine Canada, and a registered Canadian charity independent from PetSmart, Inc. To learn more, visit www.petsmartcharities.ca.
About Rescue Bank
Rescue Bank, a Signature Program of GreaterGood.org, operates on the national food bank model to community-based animal welfare groups that typically lack access to resources. Rescue Bank recognizes that these smaller, less-visible groups represent a substantial portion of America’s animal rescue resource.
Rescue Bank works with name-brand suppliers to deliver donated pet food for both the ongoing needs of more than 1,900 animal welfare organizations and the immediate needs of communities after disasters such as hurricanes, floods and fires. Since establishing its national network in 2011, Rescue Bank has delivered over 200 million meals of nutritious, wholesome pet food.
For more information visit http://rescuebank.org or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/RescueBank.
About Feeding America
Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
SOURCE: PetSmart®
Contacts:
Virginia Hock
Golin for PetSmart
469-680-2611
vhock@golin.com
or
PetSmart Media Line: 623-587-2177