BY CAMI KOONS
The Eudora pet-food drive saw a huge turnout Saturday morning and collected roughly 1,000 pounds of pet food. Volunteer Liam Hoey-Kummerow said he was amazed by the amount of donations.
“We live in a very generous community,” Hoey-Kummerow said.
The donated food and supplies will be available to Eudorans through Lawrence Humane Society. Those in need can reach out to Mary Kirkendoll on Facebook.
It’s not just pets who go hungry when their owners cannot afford food. Elina Alterman, manager of social work at Lawrence Humane Society, said she has seen many cases where owners are choosing to feed their pet over themselves. She attributed much of the need to job insecurity amidst the pandemic.
“We never want people to choose between feeding their pet and feeding themselves,” Alterman said. “Because they’re always going to choose their pet.”
In her position, Kirkendoll tries to find the gaps in resources for Eudorans and she said pet food was brought up by many people as a shortage. Kirkendoll said she learned “national love your pet day” fell on Saturday, and decided now was the time for the pet food drive, which will help assess the need for future pet-related support in Eudora.
Reach reporter Cami Koons at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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