Seattle, July 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Building on last year’s success, Greater Good Charities, in partnership with Mars Petcare, today announced year two of its Extend a Paw campaign, committing to donate up to 2.7 million pet meals – an increase from last year’s total donation – to help end hunger in animal shelters and rescues across the country. For every purchase of select Mars Petcare products at Walmart or Walmart.com now through September 30, one meal will be donated to feed a hungry pet. Participating brands include IAMS™, PEDIGREE®, NUTRO™, TEMPTATIONS™ and GREENIES™, which is a new addition to this year’s campaign.
“Pet food remains one of the largest operating expenses for animal welfare organizations, and the Extend a Paw campaign provides much needed relief to these organizations across the country,” said Liz Baker, CEO of Greater Good Charities. “We’re thrilled to bring the program back for a second year to give these organizations, who are dealing with staffing issues and pet overpopulation that hasn’t been seen in years, more flexibility to focus on additional ways to save more pets’ lives.”
For each participating product purchased at Walmart during the Extend a Paw campaign, Mars Petcare will donate one meal to Greater Good Charities to be distributed to their network of animal welfare organizations. Mars Petcare will donate up to 2.7 million pet meals through the campaign, with a guarantee of at least 1 million meals donated to help pets in need.
“After the success of last year’s campaign with the support of pet parents across the U.S., we’re thrilled to kick off this year’s Extend a Paw program as part of our long-standing partnership with Greater Good Charities,” said Josh Evertsen, Senior Vice President of Customer Development at Mars Petcare. “Everything we do at Mars Petcare is in service of our purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS™, and with more meals donated and more participating Mars Petcare brands, this year’s program will have an even bigger impact for pets in need all across the country.”
Greater Good Charities is a global nonprofit organization that works to help people, pets, and the planet and has provided more than $400 million in cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support worldwide. Additionally, Greater Good Charities is providing more than 500 tons of pet food for pets of refugees displaced in Ukraine and fleeing to neighboring countries, and to struggling animal shelters in Ukraine, with a commitment to procure an additional 1,000 tons.
Since 2011, Greater Good Charities has provided over 506 million meals to help pets in need. Last year’s Extend a Paw campaign in partnership raised 2.5 million meals for shelter and rescue pets nationwide.
Everything Mars Petcare does is in service of a world where pets are healthy, happy, and welcome. As part of its BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ program, Mars Petcare continues to provide grants, resources, and support to animal welfare organizations around the country, as well as municipalities and pet parents, helping to ensure people and pets can live happy lives together. In addition, PEDIGREE Foundation, developed in 2008, has given nearly $10M in grants to support the great work of shelters and rescues across the country to help end pet homelessness.
“We’re pleased to participate in the Extend a Paw campaign with Mars Petcare for the second year with an even larger commitment to donate 2.7 million pet meals,” said Melody Richard, Vice President of Pets, Walmart U.S. “Great news on this program, our Walmart customers can participate however they want to shop; Pickup and Delivery, Instore or on Walmart.com. We know that pets are members of the family and pet parents prioritize their companions beginning with the food they buy, and this simple act can benefit millions of other animals in need.”
For more information, visit Walmart.com/ExtendAPaw
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Greater Good Charities
Greater Good Charities is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit organization that works to help people, pets, and the planet by mobilizing in response to need and amplifying the good. Greater Good Charities, with a 100/100 rating on Charity Navigator, has provided more than $400 million in impact, including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support, to over 5,000 charitable partners in 121 countries since 2007. To learn more about how Greater Good Charities is amplifying the good across the globe, please visit greatergood.org or follow Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.
About Mars Petcare
Part of Mars, Incorporated, a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love, the 85,000 Associates across 50+ countries in Mars Petcare are dedicated to one purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS™. With 85 years of experience, our portfolio of almost 50 brands serves the health and nutrition needs of the world’s pets – including brands PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, ROYAL CANIN®, NUTRO™, GREENIES™, SHEBA®, CESAR®, IAMS™ and EUKANUBA™ as well as the WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute which has advanced research in the nutrition and health of pets for over 50 years. Mars Petcare is also a leading veterinary health provider through an international network of over 2,000 pet hospitals and diagnostic services including BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, VCA™, Linnaeus, AniCura and Antech. We’re also active in innovation and technology for pets, with WISDOM PANEL™ genetic health screening and DNA testing for dogs, the WHISTLE™ GPS dog tracker, and LEAP VENTURE STUDIO accelerator and COMPANION FUND™ programs that drive innovation and disruption in the pet care industry. As a family business and guided by our principles, we are privileged with the flexibility to fight for what we believe in – and we choose to fight for our Purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.
