Calgarians are well-known for their community spirit, and despite the novel coronavirus crisis, that spirit was extended to include pets Saturday.
More than 3,500 pounds of pet food and donations were collected during a pet food drive on April 4 and delivered to the Calgary Food Bank.
“Being an essential business, we’ve been very fortunate,” Malmberg said.
“This crisis hasn’t affected us as much as a lot of companies, a lot of people. So we just wanted to do something.”
After hearing of a shortage of pet food donations at the Calgary Food Bank, Malmberg posted on social media April 1 that his store would be able to collect pet food and donations April 4.
Malmberg invited people to stop by the parking lot of his Lake Bonavista store on Saturday between noon and 4 p.m. Volunteers accepted donations from the backs of vehicles, and within the first couple of hours, Malmberg could tell the initiative was a huge success.
Malmberg said providing pet food for clients of the Calgary Food Bank might just be enough to ensure people are not forced to make difficult decisions.
The four-hour food drive was such a success that Malmberg said he had to call on volunteers to bring more trucks to help deliver the donations to the food bank.
“I just want to thank the entire city. The response has been overwhelming,” Malmberg said.
For more information on the Calgary Food Bank click here.