The 2014 year wrapped up as the biggest ever for the Four Paws Food Pantry, which provides pet food for low income families in Loudon County.
Four Paws, which has given away 172,213 pounds of pet food, which amounts to more than 12,000 bags, since its formation in 2009, gave away 42,827 pounds of food in 2014 alone, including 33,615 pounds of dog food.
“We try to never run out of pet food at the Good Samaritan Center, and so we upped the amount of pet food we were delivering every week by about 30 percent,” Four Paws president Linda Walter said. “As a result I think we only ran out once of dog food; we never ran out of cat food.”
The total cost of pet food in 2014 for Four Paws was $22,917.89, and while Walter was happy with the amount volunteers were able to give away, the pantry still fell about $5,000 short of its $28,000 budget goal for the year. The organization has set a higher goal of $31,000 for 2015.
Walter said the nonprofit did not meet its goal of $28,000 for 2014 primarily because of losing out on grant opportunities.
“Our goals are to keep ourselves funded,” she said. “Our funding has not matched our goal of pet food. ... I think we’re going to find that we still have money in the bank, but we have a lot less than in previous years. So we’re going to work really hard on fundraising and getting grants. Those are our two main sources, and, of course, donations and being known in the community. ... Even though we’ve been in business over five years now — it was five years in September — a lot of people still don’t know anything about us. We just need to keep getting the word out.”
Four Paws has two large partners, Good Neighbor Shoppe and insurance group Senior Health Specialists, that contribute significantly to the fundraising effort. The nonprofit’s largest fundraiser is the Dining For Dogs and Cats dinner, which will be held this year on May 16 at the Toqua Golf Course pavilion. The group is always looking for new ways to raise funds, Walter said.
“We have had brainstorming sessions,” Walter said. “We have got some young volunteers from not only outside Tellico Village but also outside the county. Even though we only service Loudon County they have come on board with us, and they have really helped us in coming up with some ideas, and we’re always trying to come up with something. Our biggest problem is there is a core of us, there are three of us that are the core, and we get a lot of help from a lot of people, but some of these fundraisers require dozens of people to put them together so that is really difficult for us. We really have a hard time because it’s hard to come up with that many volunteers.”
Finding the right amount of volunteers for everything to work just the way they want has been a mixed bag for the organization. Walter said the nonprofit has enough volunteers for the most part. Volunteers include those who attend the organization’s monthly meetings, a couple that helps out by delivering dog food and a person to manage the organization’s website. The nonprofit always need more help, she said.
“We are still looking for a secretary,” Walter said. “We have been hunting for someone who will take notes, minutes at our meetings, and we have been secretary-less for over a year I think. ... So yes, we do have volunteers who do great things for us, but we always are looking for more, and we’re still looking for somebody who is willing to come to our meetings and take the minutes.”
Vice president Christine Britton said that overall organization officials are excited about what is ahead in 2015.
“We will be getting together with the board to get some other fundraisers coming up,” Britton said. “It is hard, there is a lot of work, but we’re dedicated to it. We see that as our challenge for 2015.”
The proposed budget for Four Paws in 2015 is $31,000. Walter said the organization is expecting a 20-percent increase in the need for pet food this year, which is what 90 percent of Four Paws funding buys, with 6 percent spent on fundraising, 3 percent on business expenses and 1 percent on fees.
“For a number of reasons people end up with animals they can’t properly care for,” Walter said. “Most people who fall into hard times got their animals when things are good and everybody was employed. Then they lost their jobs or something like that. Money started running tight and all of a sudden they couldn’t afford to take care of their animals.
“Some of them have always been on hard times, and they just had animals dumped on them ... and they take them in because they have good hearts, and they want to help them,” she added. “... I think the people who have trouble will always be with us and we want to be there to help them.”
