What started as a small pet food drive, has turned into a major, much needed program for senior citizens in Adams County. This month is the Senior Hub Volunteer Caregivers’ Companion Care Program’s fifth annual Season of Suppers Holiday Pet Food Distribution.

Senior Hub partners with Banfield Veterinary Clinics to provide this program that gives the community the opportunity to donate pet food to animals of seniors and the disabled in the north metro area.

“I’ve been doing program since 2008 and at that time it started with just 10 to 15 seniors,” Linda Rinelli, volunteer coordinator at the Senior Hub, a senior services agency said. “Since then it’s gotten bigger and bigger and now we have about 45 seniors that we serve.”

Rinelli said participation in the program is simple — just drop off high quality, un-opened dry pet food to area Banfield Clinics, which are in PetsMart stores, in the Denver and north metro area. The donations are then picked up by Senior Hub volunteers and eventually delivered to seniors in need. The pets are also given toys and treats along with food.

“This program really helps out so many seniors who would actually choose to go without their own food to afford to feed their pet,” Rinelli said. “For many seniors, their pets are their family members and many of those seniors are alone, other than their pets.”

The Senior Hub also offers a program for individuals or families to adopt a senior and his or her pet. In this instance the senior is delivered a specialized gift box filled with the specific needs of the pet. Rinelli said she has plenty of volunteers for this program, so her focus is the pet food donations or monetary donations, which are used to purchased gift cards to buy emergency pet food.

“Seniors can be in need of pet food at any time of the year,” Rinelli said. “The cash donations we receive are so important to us because that ensures we can provide pet food in any situation.”

For more information or to see a complete list of participating Banfield Clinics, visit www.seniorhub.org or call Rinelli at 720-859-2248.