MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — Furry Friends Foodbank near Stroudsburg is used to having empty shelves every now and again.
The pet pantry helps 150 people feed their pets every month, but it's been a long time since it's looked this bare.
"This won't last us two weeks, and that's only 4 days that were open. so we're trying to push people out as far as possible," said Felicia Katz, Furry Friends Foodbank founder.
Felicia Katz is the founder of the pet food bank.
Over the year, it helps more than 500 families feed about 1,600 cats and 600 dogs in the county, all for free.
In addition, Katz also helps some of the local organizations like Awsom Animal Shelter and Monroe County Meals on Wheels.
"It's really bad. I think with the prices of food going up, everything's going up. We service people that are financially hurting, and I know that their benefits are going down, so it's a struggle. This year is bad," explained Katz.
Katz is worried that if she can't help owners feed their pets, the animals will end back up in the shelter.
As a board member at Camp Papillion Animal Shelter, Katz says she sees it all the time, "It is common that we have people that want to surrender their pets due to financial problems. They can't feed them. And it's getting extremely harder and harder for the shelters to take in all these animals. /the last thing I want them to do is give up their pet."
Other than Katz helping supply some food, the food bank runs solely on donations.
During the season of giving, she asks for the community's help, especially with monthly monetary donations.
"This way, I can fill the need. If we need cat food one week, I can just, you know, try and get our hands on that. If we need dog food, canned cat food, canned dog food, that would help us because it does change from week to week," said Katz.
All of this is in an effort to keep pets living with their owners.
To learn more about how you can help Furry Friends Foodbank, click here.