TAYLOR, Pennsylvania — A business owner in Lackawanna County had extra warehouse space and a love for animals, and that led to a pretty amazing partnership between him - the owner of S & S Pools & Spas in Taylor - and the founder of non-profit that helps families and their pets.
"It was just space. It's amazing how we grew because of this space," said founder and president Kevin Young, PAWsitively For the Animals.
PAWsitively for the Animals is a non-profit that helps people in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties with food and medical expenses for their pets so that those pets do not end up in the shelter. When the non-profit was established in 2015, it helped a few dozen families and pets. Now, PAWsitively for the Animals serves thousands.
Most of the S&S Pools & Spas building looks like what you would expect from a pool store. But around back is now home to PAWsitively for the Animal's 4-legged food bank.
"We were able to grow incredibly. Every month, it became something different. Chewy organization had abundance of food, we were able to accept it because we had an abundance of space,' Young said.
Newswatch 16 did a story with PAWsitively for the Animals in 2021. The non-profit had more than doubled the work it was doing for people in need because of COVID, serving about a thousand families and pets that year.
Back then Kevin Young operated his non-profit out of his basement and he would deliver food and other supplies to people's houses. Now, the nearly 7,000 families that use PAWsitively's services come to the 4-legged food bank inside S & S Pools & Spas. Tony Shamnowski owns the pool store in Lackawanna County.
"And when the people come here. The people they help, and the stories. People are so taken back by what this organization does for them, to hear some of the stories is really great," Shamnowski said.
In 2022, PAWsitively for the Animals delivered about $50,000 worth of pet food to families. In 2023, when the organization moved in to its new location, it distributed more than $100,000 worth of pet food to families in need.
"People tell me there's a glow. I am so proud. I come in here and I look and I think to myself 'never in my wildest dreams when I started this program that we would become this large and serve so many in the community,'" Young said.
That glow is evident and Tony Shamnowski says it's the least he could do.
"It makes it worthwhile 10 times over, I wish we could do more for them," Shamnowski said.
And because volunteers with the organization are saving so much time no longer driving all over Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties hand delivering the food and supplies to families, now they are spending more time writing grants and getting even more funding to help families in need and keep pets out of shelters.