Last month, student volunteer Ava Vasquez wrapped up her fourth annual pet food drive at Santa Barbara’s Vieja Valley Elementary, collecting an impressive 1,230 pounds worth of pet food donations for C.A.R.E.4Paws’ Companion Pet Assistance program.
Vasquez has taken initiative to help the program by visiting the elementary school that it is held at to gather donations, answer students’ questions, and get the kids excited. When the week-long drive comes to a close, Ava and another C.A.R.E.4Paws representative gather all of the donations and weigh each class’s contributions individually. The class with the most pounds raised earns a pizza party. Afterward, they load the food into the van for distribution.
“I love seeing the empty van get filled up to the top with so much food, knowing it’s going directly to people in our community who need it,” said Vasquez.
C.A.R.E.4Paws was founded in 2009 by Isabelle Gullö as a nonprofit organization to help families on the Central Coast who have pets to provide for their four-legged companions amidst the rising cost of care and other barriers to accessing pet services…