MSPCA at Nevins Farm Marks First Anniversary of Merrimack Valley Gas Fires with Pet Food and Supplies Donation Drive
Issues Call for Cat and Dog Food, Cat Litter, Treats, Toys and More—all of which will be Donated to local Food Banks
BOSTON and Methuen, Mass. Sept. 9, 2019 – The MSPCA at Nevins Farm announced today it will mark the first anniversary of the deadly Northern Massachusetts gas explosions with a massive donation drive aimed at filling local food pantries with pet food and supplies for needy pet owners across the Merrimack Valley.
The Nevins Farm horse trailer will be parked in front of the adoption center at 400 Broadway in Methuen for two days beginning Friday, Sept. 13 at 10:00 a.m., and the team plans to make it as easy as possible for area residents to donate what they are able to.
“We’ll have volunteers in special tee shirts to help offload supplies from cars right onto the trailer,” said Mike Keiley, director of Animal Care and Adoption Centers at the MSPCA-Angell. “And we hope everyone in the region will join us in marking this somber anniversary with generosity toward our fellow citizens who need extra help keeping their pets well fed and healthy.”
The MSPCA at Nevins Farm will kick start the donation drive with 100 lbs. of food from its own food pantry.
Building Healthy Communities by Paying it Forward
The MSPCA has deepened its reach into the communities it serves in recent years, from the launch of a food support program and partnership with Meals on Wheels in Lawrence, Mass., to its current Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) vaccination program for horses in need across the state, and the upcoming free microchipping clinic in September.
The MSPCA at Nevins Farm was on the receiving end of unparalleled generosity last year upon activating its largest local disaster response in living memory, one that saw over 100 animals sheltered across its network as entire towns were evacuated.
In the wake of the disaster people from all over the state donated more than 600 packages of dog and cat food, over 50 boxes of litter and 57 boxes of supplies from the Nevins Farm Amazon Wishlist. Most of these supplies were used to care for animals at Nevins Farm—with excess donated to local food pantries.
Now the organization hopes to pay it forward.
“We’re forever grateful for the outpouring of support we received just after the explosions and we want to ensure that the hundreds—indeed thousands—of pets living in our Merrimack Valley community will be taken care of as a result of this food and donation drive, and we encourage our supporters to give what they can,” said Keiley.
The donations drive is a natural extension of the work the MSPCA has increasingly focused on in recent years, as it looks to extend its influence beyond the four walls of the adoption center. “We so strongly believe that people and pets belong together, but many pet lovers in our community are only one disaster away from losing everything, including their pets,” said Keiley.
“Collecting and bringing these donations to food pantries so that they can be distributed to those who need it most is just one more way for us to positively impact the lives of animals who we may never meet in person, but who still need the kind of help the MSPCA and its supporters can offer,” added Keiley.
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