Week 50 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

Rescued Critters Food Drive

Now in the Foothills

Meet Nick Zaetta, a high school junior who has a unique—and
based on his first week’s donations—a highly successful approach
to our Rescued Critters Food Drive.

The basic concept of Rescued Critters Food Drive is to knock on neighbors’ doors each week and ask for help to feed rescued animals. For years now, including my time with One Can A Week, I have been trying to think of a way to initiate our food drive in the foothills where the HOA (Home Owners Association), not the Neighborhood Association, is the governing body. The one big distinction between the two is HOAs never allow solicitation, and for a very good reason. We allow solicitation in our neighborhood and we’re always on the lookout for intrusive folks. If HOAs allowed solicitation can you imagine what it would be like for those Tucsonan neighborhoods? Terrible, to say the least.

I had given up on ever finding a solution to engage HOAs when I was suddenly introduced to Nick Zaetta, a high school junior who wanted to get involved in an entrepreneurial community service project.

On the right is the stack of food Nick donated to PACC today.

Twenty-Four Years in the Making

When I arrived in Tucson in 1995, one of my first tasks was to find a physician to help me renew my prescriptions for my hypertension medications. I am relentless in taking my medication daily and even at 77-years-old, I have no heart or blood pressure problems. That’s because I somehow found Dr. Mark Zaetta.

What I like most about Dr. Zaetta is he answers all my questions and is curious about what I do in life. He knew I had the One Can A Week food drive and when the article in the Tucson Dog came out on our Rescued Critters Food Drive, I gave him a copy.

Another thing I like is Dr. Zaetta never tells me, “I told you so” even when I refused the senior pneumonia shot and I came down with a mean bronchial infection. Soon after he cured me, I got the shot and now do anything he says, realizing my body is way older than my mind thinks it is.

PACC likes the food donations stacked at the front desk. Nick’s first
week’s donation of 150 lbs., on the right, is pretty impressive. See
those bags piled on the 30 lbs. of cat food? That’s what my first
week’s donation looked like,but we had more money, so it was a
good start, too.

This week we donated 194.4 lbs. of pet food and $26.16 in cash
and two checks.

Sunday Door-to-Door Replaced with Email

A couple of months ago Dr. Zaetta called me and said he and his son, Nick wanted to participate in the Rescued Critters Food Drive. He told me he lives in a cul-du-sac and he believes he can interest his neighbors via an email. The idea didn’t hit me then but while standing in line at PACC today, it came roaring home. Of course, email is perfect. That’s how HOA folks communicate with their neighbors and they feel perfectly safe. 

Although I have spent two meetings with Nick explaining the paperwork process for the food drive, I could see the different elements like receipts and quarterly reports seemed a bit arduous.

Of course, it is! What was I not thinking? I will do it all for him as I did for organizations like the Miles School, Sprouts Supermarkets and The Muslim Community Center. Nick is very good at accumulating donations in his neighborhood so that is all he should do. Forms, paperwork and delivery to PACC is my job.

Email, I’ll be damned. Glad Nick and his dad thought of that.

See you Sunday,

Peter

SPECIAL NOTICE

PACC is offering Free Vaccines and Microchips for Dogs and Cat

Saturday, August 31^st at Kino Stadium, 2500 E. Ajo Way beginning at 8 am. No appointment necessary … first 300 animals. Dogs on leash, cats in carriers only.

Week 49 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

We’re at 7,245.6 lbs. of Pet           Food with Three Weeks to Go

Our first quarterly report stated: “Our First Year’s Goal is to Donate 4,333.3 Pounds (2.2 tons) of Pet Food.”

Now that we are just three weeks away from our first anniversary, some very generous Miles neighbors have donated a whopping 7,245.6 lbs. of pet food to PACC. That’s 3.6 tons.

I’m wondering, can we make the 8,000 lbs. mark or 4 tons. If we average 252 lbs. per week, we can do it.

Since we reached that weekly goal at least a half dozen times over the year, this should be a piece of cake. But no matter what happens, we sure are feeding thousands upon thousands of hungry critters.

This week we donated 101.6 lbs. of pet food and $64.60 in cash and one check. (That translates to 173.4 lbs. of pet food.)

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 48 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

Meet Chelow and John

For forty-six Sundays in a row I have driven by the house on the corner of E. 12^th and Warren and I never noticed anything unusual. However, two weeks ago I saw three mattresses and a dresser dumped on the Warren side of that home.

After I set up an Environmental Services dumping pickup, I stopped by to tell the owner that the city would be by soon to pick up the mess. When I looked over the wall into the front yard, the first thing I saw was John digging in the dirt at the far end and then Chelow digging just in front of me. A real team, those two, I was soon to discover.

Chelow is a three-year-old pot belly pig who is as gentle as he could be. Even when John gave him a handful of unshelled peanuts—his favorite treat—Chelow quietly scooped them up.

John appreciated the news that the dumped trash would be gone soon and said I could stop by any time to see his special friend. “Lots of U of A folks in the neighborhood visit now and again on their lunch breaks,” John said, “and they bring peanuts. That makes Chelow very happy.”

By the way, Chelow has mostly people friends, so he turned two stuffed duffel bags into a couple of playful buddies.

We broke 7,000 lbs. and have
four more weeks to go.

Yes!

This week we donated 219.3 lbs. of pet food and $64.96 in cash and one check. My thinking is we can reach 8,000 lbs. by September 9, our first anniversary, if folks just stepped up a tiny bit more.

See you Sunday,

Peter