Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Kudos to you, Pittsburgh and dear readers. In a short period of time, you donated enough cat food supplies to stock the Dr. John P. Ruffing DMV Pet Food Pantry through the end of April (and perhaps beyond.)

Every month, we try to provide 12-15 pounds of dry and 20 cans of wet food to the 40 caretakers registered. We rely entirely on donations. Yes, we are working on some sustainable supports, but it is early days.

We go through a lot of food each month.

Here’s a collage of items donated.

Your generosity included

823 pounds of dry food

736 cans of wet food

Assorted litter, treats, etc.

$489 in financial donations. Chewy has their best sale this week – spend $100 and get a $30 gift card. So we leveraged the cash donations to order more food.

So we have 60+ caretakers registered, 40 who are active. Most live on the Northside, McKees Rocks, and Sheraden. The youngest is 20, the eldest is 75.

We prioritize cat colony caretakers, TNR trappers, modest income households, and rescues. Our geographic focus is the Northside and adjacent communities, but we can try to work with others who are able to travel to the Northside to pick up their distribution.

We owe a special thanks to Sarah and Sarah – when I called in disbelief about the wall of boxes piled on my stoop, they zipped right over to help transport them to the pantry.

Also a thanks to Ron who graciously used his pickup truck to move two patio bins we use for storage. Ron often says he doesn’t really like cats, but he volunteers quite a bit for someone who doesn’t like cats.

Of course, we always need donations of food. This is the gap we try to fill daily. Well fed cats are easier to TNR and maintain in their colony. Well fed cats regain their health and typically stop nuisance behaviors. Well fed friendly cats may be placed with a rescue for adoption. The kittens of well fed cats born in colonies have a greater chance of survival (and being placed with rescues.)

It is good that moderate income households juggling many challenges will not have to worry constantly about choosing between human food & pet food, choosing to keep a beloved family member in their household.

Remember, our goal is to support the people – our neighbors – doing this important work of caring for animals. Helping with food is a tangible way to remind them that are grateful for their efforts. If you have other ideas on how we can support them, let us know. The cats and other critters are important, but it is easy to lose sight of the humans and address the toll this work takes on them.

Links for Helping

Register for the pet food pantry here: bit.ly/PetFolxPetFoodPantry

Sign up for our volunteer list here: https://bit.ly/PLCvolunteer

Donations

Venmo @PittsburghLGBTQ

buff.ly/3yM1fKS

GFM bit.ly/GivePghCatFolx

Wishlists

Amazon – bit.ly/TheRuffList

Chewy – bit.ly/TheChewyList

Where to donate

Donations can be dropped at these three locations

• US Steel Workers lobby 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
• 1213 W. North Avenue (some steps) Manchester 15233
• 1440 Faulsey Way (backyard address)  Manchester 15233
•  Look for the yellow #PghCatFolx sign and the patio bin to secure your donation.

The absolute best way to support us is to set up a monthly autoshipped donation from our wishlists. Knowing we can count on it to arrive, month in and month out, is invaluable.

Thank you for showing up.