DENVER – Food bank lines are always long, but the one at Focus Points Family Resource Center in Denver's Swansea neighborhood is often extra long. The reason? A partnership with Colorado Pet Pantry, the largest pet food bank in metro Denver.
The food is provided by the Colorado Pet Pantry, the largest organization of its kind in the U.S. Every month, volunteers help distribute pet food at 105 food banks in 29 different Colorado counties. Founder Eileen Lambert says the Pantry’s mission is simply to help families who might not otherwise be able afford to keep their pets.
“Maybe rent just increased, which we know is a big deal. Gas prices. Our goal is just to help them over the hump so that they can keep this animal that they've probably had for 12 years,” Lambert explains
Lori Henley volunteers for Colorado Pet Pantry at four or five food banks a month – often after picking up many of the donations from pet stores in the area.
She says a lack of food shouldn’t be the reason anyone gives up a pet.
- Click here for more information on how you can help Colorado Pet Pantry
“I feel real empathy, I guess, for their plight,” she says. “It could be us. You never know. But you know, it could be us.”
Fellow volunteers say they see Lori at nearly every Colorado Pet Pantry event they go to. They say her willingness to help, and her knowledge of animal care, are invaluable, making her the perfect person to be a Denver7 Everyday Hero.
Denver7 features a different Everyday Hero each week. To nominate a hero in your life, click here.
