AniMend's First Event- Our First Annual Fall Supply Drive

AniMend's first event was a supply drive the week of November 17th through the 21st. Prior to this drive, our team created a flyer for the event and distributed over 100 copies in our neighborhood and my high school. We also designed custom AniMend donation boxes. The planning stage of our first supply drive additionally included calling several local pet stores to inquire about housing a donation box in their building for the week. Out of the stores we reached out to, Bentley's PetStuff Arlington Heights and PetSmart Schaumburg agreed. The day before the drive started, the Live Like Roo Foundation gave us an incredible kickstart with a generous donation of food, treats, and more!

Each day of the supply drive, 1-2 of our team members would pick up the donated items at both pet stores. What started as a small pile began to consume the better half of my living room- an amazing problem to have! By the end of the week, we'd had such success that we reached out to the pet stores and asked to leave our donation boxes through the weekend. Both Bentley's PetStuff and PetSmart were happy to extend the drive.

A few days after the event, myself and another AniMend director took on the task of sorting and counting the items we'd received. We then sorted the items by the animal shelter they were being donated too. This was done by researching each animal shelter's specific needs as well as making a few calls to inquire about certain items our team was unsure about. Once the sorting process was complete, the items were loaded in to 2 cars, ready to be distributed to 5 different local animal shelters!

The items from AniMend's first supply drive benefitted Border Tails Rescue, The Buddy Foundation, Second City Canine Rescue, Barb's Precious Rescue, and Orphans of the Storm. What a way to begin AniMend's journey! We are so grateful for our community of support that made this supply drive as successful as it was.