Food Pantry Updates - We're Getting Closer

 

A lot has happened at Delco Loves Animals since our first meeting that October night at The Spayed Club!

On January 5th, we partnered with Collingdale Councilman Steve Zane for our very first Pet Food Pantry event and it was a huge success!

💖 On February 16th, we hosted a Valentine’s Day-themed Pet Food Pantry, co-sponsored with John Sperduto, owner of Alphabet Lane Child Development Center in Folsom. We were thrilled to have Sue Spinello and Jane Gaspari from The Spayed Club in Collingdale there offering $25 spay/neuter for cats which includes flea treatment and shots (or free, if needed). They also offer a discount for dogs! If you need spay/neuter services for cats/kittens, call The Spayed Club at 484-540-8436 as soon as possible as the grant funds won't last! Another great Pet Food Pantry success!

The generosity of those who donated pet food, supplies, and their time has been truly overwhelming. Thanks to you, our co-sponsors and those who lent their helping hands, this mission continues to gain momentum—helping more pets, their families, trappers, and fosters in need!

We are getting closer to meeting our goal of finding board members. Would you be interested in becoming a board member? Or would you like to co-sponsor a Pet Food Pantry, help us collect pet food and pet supplies for future pet pantries, speak to municipalities about animal control, or the police about animal cruelty arrests? If so, please get in touch with us at DelcoLovesAnimals@gmail.com to find out how. For more ways to get involved and support
our growing Delco community organization contact us!

   

Above photos from Pet Food Pantry on January 5, 2025 at Collingdale Borough Community Center Snack Bar

Above video and photos from the DLA Pet Food Pantry held February 16th 2025 at Alphabet Lane Child Development Center, Folsom, PA

Let's Stop Animal Abuse Together - Our Meeting with the D.A.'s Office

Just this week, on February 19, 2025, Rich and I had a scheduled meeting with Jack Stollsteimer, the District Attorney of Delaware County, to discuss animal cruelty. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to meet with Jack and instead met with Margie McAboy, Director of Policy and Public Engagement, and Sean McNabb, an Assistant District Attorney (A.D.A.).

It was a productive meeting where we shared the mission of Delco Loves Animals (DLA)—why we started it and what we hope to accomplish. Our main focus that day was animal cruelty, as we had been hearing that the D.A.'s office was prosecuting cases but that offenders were, at best, receiving only a slap on the wrist for their crimes against animals. We were assured that this was not the case and that these offenses are indeed being prosecuted. But that raises an important question: Where do we go from here?

Our next step in the fight against animal cruelty is to spread awareness throughout Delco, ensuring that mayors, police chiefs, officers, and local councils understand the importance of making appropriate arrests and conducting thorough investigations. Without their commitment, cases of animal abuse could slip through the cracks, or worse, abusers could walk free on technicalities. The real question is: Will they rise to the challenge? We hope so—but the only way to know for sure is to engage with them directly, observe, and hold them accountable. And for that, we need boots on the ground.

Now, here's an interesting twist. On Thursday night, I was invited to a meeting where candidates running in the May 20th primary election were in attendance. And guess who I met there? If you guessed our District Attorney, Jack Stollsteimer, you’re absolutely right!

I introduced myself to Jack and mentioned that Rich and I had been scheduled to meet with him just the day before, but due to circumstances, we ended up speaking with Margie and Sean instead. I explained our concerns and shared that we had heard claims suggesting that the D.A.'s office isn’t prosecuting enough animal cruelty cases. Not that they aren’t prosecuting any—but not as many as they need to. Jack himself reassured me that this was not true.

I was so grateful for the opportunity to meet him in person and ask that question directly. Hearing it not only from Margie and Sean but also from the D.A. himself gives me the determination to take further steps. There’s something powerful about receiving confirmation firsthand—it gives me hope that real change is not only possible but with talking to the right people, change will happen!

I don't think anyone would disagree that animal cruelty is a serious issue that impacts not only animals but also children and society as a whole. Studies show that 100% of serial killers harmed animals in their childhood, and those who abuse animals are more likely to harm people as well. Animal cruelty is not an isolated act—it often reflects larger underlying issues in a person's life, especially in their home environment, which is particularly true for children.

At Delco Loves Animals, we care deeply about both animals and people. We understand the deep connections between them and believe that addressing the root causes of animal cruelty can lead to healthy change for animals, children, and families in crisis. Many children long for love, stability, self-control, forgiveness, care, and nurturing, but unfortunately, not all receive them. By doing our part in helping to break the cycle of abuse, we aim to foster healthier relationships for both humans and animals, and we are committed to doing everything we can.

If you have experience in law enforcement, pastoral care, counseling, abuse recovery, or any field related to animal cruelty and family crises, we would love to hear from you and welcome you to join us in this important effort. We can be reached at delcolovesanimals@gmail.com or 484-388-9259. Thank you!
                                                                                
Additional links related to animal abuse: 

1. https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/04-2019/animal_cruelty.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawIHx19leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHV5BbgxfTxqv_v5jor-f9SZYqHw67YMPNYqwL5atZzRrRTNh4DpEZPYvxg_aem_5wWf9FWe_uwhqolvhYXfng

2. https://aldf.org/article/the-link-between-cruelty-to-animals-and-violence-toward-humans-2/

3. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260520928640 

February's Valentine's Day Pet Food Pantry - Feb. 16, 2025

                           

We're getting ready for our 2nd ever Pet Food Pantry co-sponsored with John Sperduto, owner of Alphabet Lane Child Development Center! We're grateful to John for offering space for the Pet Food Pantry and looking forward to another successful day!

Since it's Valentine's Day weekend we thought we'd make this Pet Food Pantry festive and fun! Of course, we'll have refreshments and we're also going to have some giveaways! Our cousin, Debbie put together some adorable TREAT BAGS just for this event! There are 48 of them so first come, first served! They'll be arriving tomorrow! Can't wait! Thank you, Debbie (and Michael)! 

We'll also be giving away Lisa's homemade lip balms, and if time allows, some of her heart-shaped lotion bars—crafted with organic, natural, and carefully sourced ingredients!

We also want to give a thank you shout out to our friend, Paula who has gone above and beyond, sending us lots of pet food and supplies from our Amazon Wish List! Thank you, Paula!  

Again the generosity and support of so many people has been wonderful! This truly is a team effort! 

The Pet Food Pantry is all about donations! Please see the flyer below for details about how you can donate. The other flyer gives details about enrolling in the Pet Food Pantry. 

If you have any questions about donating or the enrollment form, please email us at delcolovesanimals@gmail.com or text us at 484-388-9259.

LEGALITIES OF RAFFLES  - We would love to hold raffles to help rescues and shelters in Delco but while doing some research we discovered there are legalities to overcome. Since we're not a non-profit yet we are limited to what we can do. So, if anyone has any suggestions or ideas about how we can hold raffles legally, we would appreciate your input. This may be a longshot but we want to cover all bases. 

We appreciate everyone's support involvement in Delco Loves Animal's mission!  

Delco Loves Animals: Exciting Progress and Our First Update of 2025!

Happy New Year! There’s so much to tell you. So, grab a mug or glass of your favorite drink. This will take a few minutes to read. 

 THANK YOU

First, we want to send a BIG THANK YOU Steve Zane, Collingdale Borough Councilman who sponsored the first Delco Loves Animals Pet Food Pantry with us on January 5th, for providing the space at the Collingdale Community Center snack bar and for all your hard work! You went above and beyond, Steve and we really appreciate all you did!

 For those of you who donated pet food/pet supplies, money and/or your time on January 5^th a BIG THANK YOU to you! The Pet Food Pantry was a huge success because of ALL of you! We’re looking forward to the next Pet Food Pantry coming up on February 16^th which will be co-sponsored with John Sperduto, owner of Alphabet Lane Child Development Center in Folsom (across from the Folsom Fire House). John was kind enough to offer space at Alphabet Lane which recently opened. A BIG THANK YOU to you, John! We are looking forward to another successful Pet Food Pantry and we are grateful for your generosity!

 WE’RE HAVING A MEETING

We want to invite you to our Zoom meeting on Thursday, February 13^th at 7pm. We hope you can make it. If you would like to attend, please RSVP so we can send you an invitation. The topics we’ll be covering are VOLUNTEERING, the PET FOOD PANTRY and BRANDYWINE VALLEY SPCA which is not addressed in this email, as well as some topics below. In warmer weather, we’re thinking it would be nice to have some in-person meetings at a park like Rose Tree Park. It’s always difficult to find indoor space for free.

 BOARD MEMBERS

We have an immediate need for qualified Board Members before we can incorporate and apply for 501(c)(3) status. If you or someone you know is interested, please let us know so we can set up a time to meet with you. 

We are limited in what we can do until we are incorporated and have 501(c)(3) status.

​OUR NAME, WEBSITE, BLOG, AND LOGO

v  Our Name: We have secured our name Delco Loves Animals with the state and Google, and we have purchased the domain name.

v  Social Media: We have a Facebook page, Instagram and TikTok. Currently we’re only using our Facebook page.

v  Website & Blog: We’re hoping to get a website up and running soon. We’re also going to have a blog which we will use to update everyone on our progress. If you subscribe, you can receive notification when a new blog post is out. 

• If anyone has expertise in websites and would be willing to help out, please let us know (we’re going to use a template from Wix or something similar).

v  Our Logo:  You may have seen our logo on Facebook. Thank you to those who offered their advice and opinions for the logo!  You’ll see it at the top of this email.

 FLYERS & LINKS

Our flyers, 2025 Key Initiatives and our February's Pet Food Pantry flyers are below. Here’s the link for the Pet Food Pantry Enrollment form.

 MEETING WITH THE D.A.

On February 19^th we have a meeting scheduled with the D.A. to discuss animal cruelty. We’re going to stress

the importance of enforcing the animal cruelty laws and prosecuting offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

We will also discuss what laws may need to be changed or added. Animal cruelty is rampant and a slap on the wrist for harming or killing animals is unacceptable and not nearly enough.

We all know that when laws are not enforced and prosecutors don’t prosecute, we see higher crime. People need to be afraid of what might happen to them if they harm or kill animals. And animals need us to be their voices.

 FREE PET SHELTERS

We met a guy last month at the Pet Food Pantry who makes pet shelters and gives them out for FREE. If you or someone you know needs one, let us know.

NEWSPAPERS FOR TRAPPERS

If any trappers are in need of newspapers, please let us know. We have a connection at the Daily Times and can get  quantities. We can pick them up and either deliver them or arrange for you to pick them up.

CLEAN, NEW OR GENTLY USED BLANKETS

Many shelters and rescues use and need blankets. We would like to have an ongoing collection of clean, new or gently used blankets that we can give to the shelters and rescues who need them.

 PET FOOD PANTRY

Our next Pet Food Pantry is February 16^th. Since it’s Valentine’s Day weekend it will be a heart-filled day with some holiday fun and light refreshments!

We will need volunteers to help out with receiving donations, handling the Guest List, bagging supplies, and helping carry supplies to people’s cars. If you would like to volunteer on February 16^th, please let us know. Also, we have some ideas that we'd like to start implementing. They are as follows:

• We want to be all around Delco! Choose a different location each month to have the Pet Food Pantry - if your place of business or municipality would like to co-sponsor a pet food pantry with us, please have them get in touch with us. All they have to do is provide the space and help us get the word out about the pantry and donations.
• We now have an eligibility enrollment form on Jot Form for anyone who would like to enroll in the pantry. It was suggested by a few experienced people to do this. Each eligible person will receive a card good for six months. They will have to show the card and photo ID at each Pet Food Pantry event in order to receive supplies. Since the mission of Delco Loves Animals (DLA) is to help reduce the population of cats and dogs by spay and neuter, we require that anyone who enrolls in the pantry provide spay/neuter records for their pets, whether theirs, fosters, rescues, etc. If the pets are not yet spayed/neutered, they must provide proof of a scheduled appointment and then will have three months to provide proof of spay/neuter. The attached Pet Food Pantry flyer includes a QR Code for the enrollment form.

·      Each month we would like to hold a raffle that will benefit a Delco rescue or shelter. If you'd like to nominate one, please get in touch with us, otherwise we'll choose one.

• For the raffles we will need your help...if you or a business you know would like to donate a gift basket, a gift card, entertainment tickets, pet products/supplies, etc. please let us know. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the designated recipient. More on the raffles to follow.
• If any businesses you know would like to collect donations for our monthly Pet Food Pantry we will provide a bin for that location. However, it will need to be in a secure location so that it won’t be in view of passersby. The bin will be placed at the location at the beginning of a month and picked up on the first of the next. If they would like to keep the bin for another month, they can just let us know and we’ll return it to that location.

 FUNDRAISING IDEAS FOR RESCUES & SHELTERS

·      Monthly raffles (see above)      

       Sell merchandise with Delco Loves Animals logo: T-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, babywear (onesies), dog coats, golf shirts, hats, tote bags, mouse pads, blankets, potholders/oven mitts, homemade lip balms* and more ideas to come. 

       *Lisa’s homemade lip balms made with organic and natural ingredients – They will be sold for $3.00 each / $2.50 will be donated.

M   VOLUNTEERS

We want to thank those who have volunteered with us and who have contacted us to be a volunteer! Up until now we really weren’t sure what roles were necessary. If you would like to volunteer or have expertise in any of these areas, we have plenty of opportunities for you:

1.        Pet Food Pantry Volunteers

o   At the Pet Food Pantry events: Receiving donations, handling the Guest List, bagging supplies, and helping carry supplies to people’s cars.

o   Find and secure locations for the monthly Pet Food Pantry for the remainder of the year (at businesses and municipalities). We’d like to get the rest of the year secured soon.

o   Contact businesses to ask for donations of pet food, cat litter, and other essential pet supplies.

o   Ask for and hand out Pet Food Pantry donations flyers to prospective donors of pet food, cat litter, and other essential pet supplies.

o   Pet Food Pantry Bins: We need volunteers to find businesses who are willing to have a bin set up for donations.

o   Pet Food Pantry Flyers: We already have the flyer templates and just need someone to change the date, time and location each month.

o   Social Media Volunteers: We need volunteers who can manage our social media accounts and also get the word out each month about the Pet Food Pantry, donations, raffle donations, etc.

o   Volunteers to distribute printed flyers for the Pet Food Pantry throughout Delco.

o   Raffle Gifts: We need volunteers who can contact people you know and businesses to ask if they will donate gift baskets, gift cards, products, services, entertainment tickets (movies, concerts, sports, escape rooms, archery, family fun centers, etc.) for our monthly raffles (see below).  We just ask that you avoid gifts of alcohol.

o   Volunteers to help with our website.

o   Volunteers to help with the Amazon Wish List.

 If anyone has any other ideas that would benefit Delco rescues and shelters, trappers, fosters, etc. please let us know.

 As we continue making progress, we're gaining a clearer understanding of what needs to be done. We'd love to connect with all the rescues, shelters, clinics, veterinarians, and local officials (mayors, council members, state representatives) in Delco. If you know any of them, it would be incredibly helpful if you could introduce us and help us get in touch.

 With appreciation and kind regard,

Rich & Lisa Small