Home Van Pet Care Project News - March 2015

From Elizabeth Howard, Coordinator

Dear Friends - This is what we want you to know. Home Van Pet Care Project is continuing to fulfill our primary mission of providing pet food to homeless and low income people in our community.

We distribute pet food on a weekly basis to two locations:  one is down South Main Street behind Lynch Park, and the other is at Grace Marketplace.

Our dear sister group, the Home Van itself, has retired from driveouts and is opening a small food pantry at the home of Arupa Freeman, who founded the Home Van some 13 years ago.

When we started the Pet Food Project 8 years ago, I traveled with the Home Van for several years, carrying pet food in the back of my little car.  After a while we found out we needed to go out different hours and we wanted our own non-profit, so we founded Home Van Pet Care Project.

Anyone who ever traveled with Arupa and the Home Van learned something about giving, just giving, giving as much as you can and then giving some more.  So for me, there was loving and giving, and learning how to do a driveout, how to do it simply and to continue as long as I can.

So that's what we're doing here at the Home Van Pet Care Project.  We've grown, but the mission is the same -- provide pet food, get more, give more....  and do it with love, respect and kindness.

Here's what's pending for us:  We've asked for the use of a building in the Grace Marketplace area.  This would be a resource center for homeless people with pets.  The Gainesville City Commission will hear information about this project soon, most likely at its April 9th meeting at 1:00 pm at City Hall.  We'll be in touch with more information on this or give us a call at 352-473-9423.

That same little car of mine has grown older.  We'd like to purchase a small used pickup truck in good condition for Home Van Pet Care Project to use for pickup and delivery of all those mounds of pet food.  If you have a vehicle you might be able to donate, if you want to donate funds towards purchase, or if you can run a fundraiser for us, please let us know at 352-473-9423 (tel:352-473-9423) .

We need food for the animals, as well as collars, leashes and harnesses.  We have a new drop-off place at Sisset's Home and Patio, 3429 W. University Avenue in Gainesville, 352-224-5192.  If this is not convenient for you, call for an alternate location.

You can contribute financially by check payable to Home Van Pet Care Project, Inc., c/o Elizabeth Howard, PO Box 14305, Gainesville, FL 32604, or by PayPal here on our blog.  For more information or to volunteer, call 352-473-9423.

This is Tiffany, a downtown kitty, who reminds us there are many people still living in and around our community, homeless.

This is Magic.  Magic is an energetic young dog who lives at Grace and makes us laugh on a regular basis by jumping and twirling when we give him a treat.

My car is getting pretty old. We need a pickup truck to pick up and deliver the pet food.

More than 200,000 Miles!

There's no longer enough room in this trunk to handle all the pet food.