Press release: Blue Buffalo
October officially marks the kick-off of the 25th Annual Home for the Holidays campaign, sponsored by Blue Buffalo. For the sixth year in a row, the pet food company philanthropic title sponsor is providing a very special holiday gift to animal rescue organizations and shelters on both coasts of the country by donating 70,000 pounds of free pet food in San Diego and New York City. Since 2018, Blue has donated a total of 574,925 pounds of food for the Coast-to-Coast Home 4 the Holidays Food Drop. At the same time, Naturally Fresh will also provide free pallets of their premium kitten litter to West Coast shelters.
Founded by Helen Woodward Animal Center in 1999, the Home 4 the Holidays campaign has helped place more than 20 million pets (in partnership with more than 4,000 participating global rescue groups) into loving homes. The program seeks to encourage families to adopt their new four-legged family members from a shelter this holiday season, rather than shop for them at a pet store or breeder.
Blue Buffalo has supported Helen Woodward Animal Center’s holiday campaign since 2013. Last year, Home 4 the Holidays resulted in nearly 1 million dogs and cats united with loving families.
“Blue Buffalo’s mission is to love, feed and treat all pets like family,” said Haley Perry, senior manager of brand experience at Blue Buffalo. “We believe every dog and cat deserves a loving, forever home where they are truly embraced as family. This holiday season, we hope people visit their local rescue centers and consider the love they can give to shelter pets.”
This year’s struggling economy has had a massive impact on shelters across the country where pet relinquishment numbers are up, and adoption numbers are down. Many animal welfare organizations are struggling with limited funding and hungry mouths to feed, while juggling strained budgets with increased supply costs and medical expenses. The Coast-to-Coast Blue Buffalo Food Drop helps relieve a large part of the financial strain; enabling shelters to focus on matching pets with loving families. Blue Buffalo is delivering several truckloads of food to Helen Woodward Animal Center and the Center’s partner, Paws Crossed Animal Rescue in New York. The much-needed holiday meals will be distributed to pet rescues and shelters within those regions.
“We are honored to partner with Blue Buffalo on this campaign each year,” stated Helen Woodward Animal Center VP of development Renee Resko. “The company has made it its mission to improve the lives of animals, providing nutritious food to pets in homes, and championing Home 4 the Holidays to find loving families for orphan pets. This coast-to-coast food drop they have done for the past 6 years to kick this campaign off is just another incredible way Blue Buffalo is demonstrating their dedication to helping pets in need.”
“We are beyond thrilled and honored to be a part of Blue Buffalo’s wonderful Home 4 the Holidays food donation,” said Jennifer Angelucci, CEO of Paws Crossed Animal Rescue Inc. “This is the 5th year that Paws Crossed has been the eastern hub for this tremendous gift of over 36,000 pounds of pet food, to be used at Paws Crossed and distributed to numerous shelters on the East Coast. We are so grateful to our friends at Helen Woodward Animal Center, the west coast hub, for suggesting our participation in helping so many orphaned pets!”
Helen Woodward Animal Center wants to continue to encourage rescue organizations to increase their adoption efforts during the holiday season, when more families opt to bring home a new pet. For the fifth year, the Center is offering $25,000 to the rescue organization that develops the most creative Home 4 the Holidays promotion to increase adoptions.