New Jersey has the 14th highest foreclosure rates in the country. Human beings, however, are not the only ones being affected by the foreclosure crisis–household pets are feeling the pain as well.
Realtor Nick Baldwin of The Baldwin Dream Team at Keller Williams NJ Metro Group in Montclair, felt something needed to be done. “Pets are often left behind, malnourished, and neglected because their owners can’t afford to pay their mortgage, let alone feed Fido,” he said. “That’s when I thought, ‘I’m a Realtor. Why not collect food for the pets of foreclosure?’”
And the idea for the Four-Legged Food Drive: Feeding Foreclosed Pets was born.
As the owner of a 70-pound boxer, Baldwin knows how expensive it can be to keep pets fed. So he set out to organize different drop-off locations around town for people wishing to donate pet food. “I went into local businesses with my team member, Juliet Bowen, and pitched our cause to them,” he said. “At first, we secured six locations but after word got out, I started getting calls and e-mails from other small business owners who wanted to help. Including Keller Williams, a total of 11 locations agreed to participate. They included:
Super Scoop in Glen Ridge
Fitzgerald’s 1928 in Glen Ridge
Montclair Feed in Montclair
Ruthie’s BBQ in Montclair
J. Clores Flowers & Gifts in Montclair
Yoga Montclair
Fast Frame Montclair
Watchung Booksellers in Montclair
Tone Fitness in Bloomfield
Brookdale Pet Center in Bloomfield
The food drive ran from November 21 through December 23 to coincide with the holidays. A total of 800 pounds of food was collected and is being donated weekly to the Montclair Human Needs Food Pantry.
“Due to this success of this endeavor, I plan to start it up again in the spring,” Baldwin said. “I also have some Realtor friends in other states that want to do the food drive in their market areas. I’m working with a local illustrator who is developing a new logo to put on T-shirts, and we will donate the proceeds from the shirts to various animal charities.”
To learn more about the pet food drive, visit the Facebook page at Facebook.com/FourLeggedFoodDrive or the website, Four-Legged Food Drive.
God bless you Nick Baldwin!
This is great. I didn’t know about it but I’ll be sure to drop off food in the spring. Thank you Nick!
Animals are great and all but this type of community involvement is needed for homeowners themselves.
@stayhyphy The does help the homeowners. Can you imagine not being able to feed your pet- a member of your family!
Kudos to Nick Baldwin, The Human Needs Food Pantry, and the businesses that partnered with them!
This was a wonderful idea and I was glad to be able to donate. Look forward to doing more in the spring!