TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — "I don't want my baby to go hungry," said Tamara McAfee.
Our fur babies are seen as part of the family and sometimes keeping up with all their expenses can get tough.
"They would go hungry, and I might have to let them go to a better place that could take care of them," said Mcafee
That would be the case for Tamara Mcafee if places like the Southern Arizona Animal Food Bank didn't exist.
"The requests have actually multiplied by four here, in that people need more help, need more assistance, need to stretch their budgets further," said Mary Bradley with the animal food bank.
She says the pandemic caused a ripple effect with many people losing their source of income. Even they had to do their own downsizing.
"As a board member, we decided that our money was better spent with the animals then on space. So, we went down from 6,000 to 3,000 square feet. we trimmed our budget and now we have extra money to share with the animals and the people of Tucson," said Bradley.
Bradley says the more you can provide, the more they can keep pets at home.
"Our immediate need is for wet dog food, canned dog food, and for cat dry food," added Bradley.
The hope is for donations to provide some kind of relief till families can get back up on their feet.
"So, that they can regain their balance, find that new job, wait for the next check to come in and so, we're trying to tide them over for a week or more," said Bradley.
Right now, there trying to raise money to get more food donations to the bank.
"We have an offer for about 40 pallets of dry dog food to be donated to us," said Bradley.
But they need to finance a semi to go pick it up.
"Cash donations are a major importance to us right now. So, that we can pay the expenses of gas and a driver and one thing or another to get that food down here to Tucson," said Bradley.
She says they need to collect $1600 to make this happen so they can continue to meet their mission.
"We don't call ourselves Southern Arizona Animal Food Bank lightly. We send thousands of pounds down to the smaller communities on the Arizona side of the border," said Bradley.
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Lydia Camarillo is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. Lydia is no stranger to the Old Pueblo. She has been reporting in Tucson for more than a decade and has been involved in numerous projects highlighting folks in the community. Share your story ideas and important issues with Lydia by emailing lydia.camarillo@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.