Community Corner
Maggie's Pet Pantry - A Food Bank For Pets
Since January Maggie's Pet Pantry has welcomed dozens of South County residents who need assistance feeding their cats, dogs, and other companion animals.
Like Oprah, Carol Terranova has an occasional Aha! moment - like the one that snapped her to attention last November. An NBC Nightly News “Making a Difference” segment with Brian Williams, an article in Best Friends magazine, and a local Boy Scouts food drive created the karmic synergy that inspired Terranova to launch Maggie’s Pet Pantry, a food bank for pets in Richmond, Rhode Island.
Dogs' Best Friend
“I didn’t want to walk dogs,” the retired school teacher said of her quest to find a way to help South County pets and their families. Terranova had previously volunteered at the Hopkinton Animal Shelter. She and Maggie, her 14-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, continue to visit area nursing homes and schools. But the energetic Terranova wanted to do more.
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Then it hit her.
“People might feel they have to give up their pets because they can’t feed them,” she realized. And that’s how Maggie’s Pet Pantry was born.
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Terranova said that Animal Control Officer Anne Fisher welcomed the idea of a pet pantry on the grounds of the animal shelter. After all, intact pet families mean fewer abandoned pets.
Terranova’s proposal before the Richmond Town Council sailed through to unanimous approval. Pete Hall at Westerly Agway not only offered temporary use of a shed but arranged to have the building delivered and set up adjacent to the Richmond Animal Shelter at 51 Buttonwoods Road.
Blessings to Share
Maggie’s Pet Pantry opened in January. Already, nearly a dozen people each week drive to Maggie’s for assistance feeding their pets. Free pet food is available to any resident of South County...and beyond.
“One woman (client) from Newport is fostering dogs,” Terranova explained. She described another client who was struggling to feed his dog and several cats after a job loss. When the man came to ask for help, he offered a dozen and a half eggs in gratitude.
Most of the donated food for Maggie’s Pet Pantry comes from individuals, like the lady who one day dropped off 10 large bags of dog food. Anyone wishing to donate food to Maggie's Pet Pantry can do so during the pet pantry's regular hours of operation: Monday 2 to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to noon.
Terranova has also set up donation bins at Doggie Depot Pet Grooming and Incredible Threads in Wyoming, Crandall House Senior Services in Ashaway, and the Hope Valley Post Office. In time, she hopes that area veterinarians will giver her permission to set up donation bins in their clinics.
Business sponsors are also stepping up to the dog dish. Terranova recently received a large donation of puppy food from a Shaw’s supermarket in Warwick. Washington Trust’s Wyoming branch office ran a bake sale to benefit Maggie’s Pet Pantry.
Build It And They Will Come
With plans to keep Maggie’s Pet Pantry open year round, Terranova has applied for a permit to construct a 20 foot by 12 foot building to replace the temporary shed. She said that Richmond Director of Public Works Scott Barber has already offered to install the footings for the new building and a volunteer construction crew is eager to start as soon as Maggie's Pet Pantry secures donations of needed building materials.
If you would like to donate pet food (or construction materials) to Maggie’s Pet Pantry, please call Carol Terranova at 401-539-3122 (home) or 401-741-1596 (cell phone). You can also email Terranova <maggieprov129@cox.net> Maggie’s Pet Pantry flyers will be distributed at upcoming rabies vaccine clinics sponsored by the towns of Exeter, West Greenwich, Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton, and Westerly.
