Today officially marks the kick-off of the 22nd Annual Home 4 the Holidays campaign, sponsored by Blue Buffalo. To celebrate, next week the big hearted pet food company is providing animal rescue organizations and shelters on both coasts of the country, a very special holiday gift. For the third year, Blue Buffalo, the title sponsor of the Helen Woodward Animal Center-originated campaign, will unload a massive amount of free pet food to San Diego and New York City rescues. At the same time, Naturally Fresh will also provide free pallets of their premium kitten litter.
Since its start, Home 4 the Holidays has helped place more than 17 million pets (from over 4,000 participating global rescue partners) into loving homes. The program seeks to encourage families to find their four-legged family members at a shelter, rather than a pet store or breeder, during the holiday season when more families choose to bring home a new pet than any other time of the year.
Blue Buffalo has supported Helen Woodward Animal Center's holiday campaign since 2013. Last year, the campaign resulted in more than 1 million orphan dogs and cats united with loving families.
"Blue Buffalo believes pets truly become family members and we are proud to support pet adoption programs through the year," said Blue Buffalo Marketing Director Danielle Donegan. "The Home 4 the Holidays campaign is especially important to the animal shelter and rescue communities nationwide because it helps millions of orphan pets find forever homes."
Many animal welfare organizations struggle with limited funding and hungry mouths to feed, while juggling budgets with supply costs and medical expenses. 2020's pandemic placed an even greater financial strain on rescue facilities that depend on donations for much of their limited income. Scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th, the Coast-to-Coast Blue Buffalo Food Drop helps takes a big bite out 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 newest partner, Paws Crossed Animal Rescue in New York. The much-needed holiday meals will be distributed to pet rescues within those regions.
"Blue Buffalo has been an incredible supporter of animal adoption and rescue facilities all over the country," stated Helen Woodward Animal Center VP of Development Renee Resko. "They have put so much heart behind the marketing efforts they do to promote adoption during the holiday season and the gift of free food to rescue facilities is icing on the cake. We are honored to be one of the facilitators of this amazing holiday delivery."
Helen Woodward Animal Center is also ensuring that a portion of the pet food donation be provided to The Animal Rescue Mission located in Los Angeles, California. This donation will be made in recognition of 2020's Remember Me Thursday® Official Spokesperson and actress, Jennie Garth who fostered a shelter pup during the COVID-19 quarantine. The Garth family fell in love with, and eventually adopted, their foster naming him Fauci (after Dr. Fauci). In recognition of Jennie's heart and her enthusiastic voice for rescue pets around the world, this food will be provided to other pets awaiting adoption at Fauci's alumni shelter, The Animal Rescue Mission.
Helen Woodward Animal Center wants to continue to encourage rescue organizations to up their adoption efforts during the holiday season, when more families opt to bring home a new pet. For the second year, the Center is offering $25,000 to the rescue organization that develops the most creative promotion to increase adoptions.
There are many ways to get involved in the Blue Buffalo Home 4 the Holidays campaign including adopting and encouraging friends to adopt and then showing the world your newly adopted best friend by posting a photo at https://animalcenter.org/home-4-the-holidays/contest, or sharing on Twitter or Instagram with #IChoseToRescue and tagging @hwac and @bluebuffalo. For more information about the campaign or to find participating local shelters and rescues groups, go to https://animalcenter.org/home-4-the-holidays.
For information on Helen Woodward Animal Center, call 858-756-4117, visit www.animalcenter.org or stop by at 6461 El Apajo Road, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067.
