West Cook News

Waggin’ Tails partnered with Rescue Pack to host a Pet Pantry Drive-Thru on July 13, 2024. The event aimed to provide pet food and supplies to residents in need.

The drive-thru took place at Morton College, starting earlier than planned due to high demand. Participants received dog or cat food, pet beds, and cat litter as they drove through the distribution point.

One participant remarked, "Cat food and dog food is very expensive and you have to be buying it periodically so it saved us some money and we can use that money for other things that we have to pay for. Definitely a great help."

Hundreds of cars attended the event, which was organized by Waggin’ Tails in collaboration with Rescue Pack. Mike Wyka, Deputy Director at Rescue Pack, noted the significant need for such events: "We know there is a great need for it. We partnered up with Waggin’ Tails and came out."

Rescue Pack provided eight pallets of dog and cat food along with four pallets of pet beds donated by Chewy. The pet beds were an unexpected addition for many attendees.

"The smiles from the owners have just been awesome," said Wyka.

Samantha Boron from Waggin’ Tails praised the joint effort: "It’s a fantastic effort, joint effort. It’s been great so far hundreds of cars have come out for cat food, dog food, cat litter; we’re trying to get just something to everybody in the community help keep the animals in their homes."

Boron added that President Larry Dominick supported the initiative from its inception: "When we brought up the event to President Larry Dominick he was like, it’s a go. Let’s do this; let’s get it started."

Waggin’ Tails plans to continue its partnership with Rescue Pack for future events. Boron stated, "Rescue Pack is just another great organization that we’re gonna continue working with... Keep giving to the community everything that we can."

A total of 255 cars participated in this first-ever drive-thru pet pantry event. The next drive-thru is scheduled for August 10th, 2024.

More photos can be viewed on the Town of Cicero Facebook Page at Facebook.com/TownofCicero.

---