Major Food Donation from Purina and the Kindness of Others

My eyes are actually watering right now as I write this. I am just so overwhelmed at the kindness of others to act quickly.

It was a last minute offer that left us scrambling, but thanks to the Internet, it all came together!

As a Rally to Rescue Ambassador for Purina Pro Plan, we are often offered free items, such as T-shirts and twice a year receive about 20 bags of dry adult dog food. We are always so grateful for the donations as it leaves us more money for other things.

On August 21st at 9:55 am, we received an unusual offer to obtain a large amount of free dog and puppy food. The catch was we had to place the order by 3 pm that day and guarantee someone we could pick it up early the following week. We could make a request of the numbers of bags and items we wanted, but would not be guaranteed a specified amount. The plant was located in Atlanta, and the offer too good not to try, so I placed the order and relied on faith.

On Thursday, August 27, I received an email that our order had been approved for 110 bags and ready for pickup. Sadly, it was a day after one of our other board members had already left the Atlanta area. I contacted our media partners, and within minutes Alice Massimi of WSAV had posted it on her Twitter. A short while later, Katrine Trantham, Director of Recruitment for SCAD, emailed me that she had read about our request, was already in Atlanta and would be happy to fit what she could in her car to come back home. I was thrilled! All that was left was to get a second driver.

Once again, the Internet came to the rescue. Someone responded via a Facebook post. Margie Jaques, who had already been an angel in getting us set up with office space, offered to drive, but lacked a large-enough vehicle. She called and priced rental trucks, and we determined it would cost us nearly $300 plus gas in rental fees. Then she suggested we try a dealership. I immediately thought of Savannah Toyota.

Savannah Toyota's general manager Chris Hafer has done for us in the past. Just earlier this year, he sent two of his guys to pick us up a donated chest freezer and deliver it for us to have a safe, sanitary place to store donated food. Again, he didn't disappoint. Margie was so excited to call and give me the news. Chris offered to loan us a cargo van and a full tank of gas at no cost, and insisted, "just bring it back empty; we'll take care of it." I was in tears when I hung up the phone.

Margie and her obliging husband Jon will travel to Atlanta tomorrow to get the remaining food, and we will have less of a burden in providing food for our foster pets.

It never ceases to amaze me what can happen if people just try and others offer up their time. So to all these angels who made this food donation possible, we all say THANK YOU!