Cindy's Pets

About the Program

Category: Volunteers (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

The Pasco County Elderly Nutrition/Meals on Wheels Division annually provides almost 200,000 home delivered meals to almost 2,000 homebound elders in an effort to sustain proper nutrition independent living. Over the years, staff from the Pasco County Elderly Nutrition Division noticed that many of the fixed-income elders shared their meals with the pets they love, due to a lack of pet food. In an effort to address this issue, Elderly Nutrition staff in collaboration with Genesis School representatives created a free supplemental pet food program for elders which became known as “Cindy’s Pets”. Cindy’s Pets provides nutritional food and more for the animals of homebound elders. Volunteers from Cindy’s Pets organize approximately 1,250 pounds of pet food monthly, package the food according to each animal’s size, and then deliver the needed food to the homebound elders. Volunteers provide not only pet food, but a visit from a friend. Currently, 123 cats, 64 dogs, and 12 birds belonging to 61 homebound elders are fed monthly. Since 2010, a total of 83 elders have been served by this innovative and essential program.