Members of Girl Scouts Troop 164 pose with the pet pantry installed at K9 University on Northwest Expressway. (Photo provided)
By Jacob Sturm
news@mustangpaper.com
An underserved group will be benefiting from the recent work of Girl Scouts Troop 164 through
their Silver Award project.
Lara Haney, Troop leader for Girl Scouts Troop 164, said her girls involved with the project
(Claire Burton, Ria Mangiliman, Nora Haney, Charlotte Maki, Emma Penwright and MaCalla
Cerney) have always been into community service. The Troop, according to Haney, has been
volunteering at the Manna Pantry in Yukon for many years. It was that work that started the
inspiration to create a Pet Pantry.
“When we started thinking about what we wanted to do for our silver award, which is the
second highest award that they can earn as cadets at this level, they were like ‘well, there’s
tons of places where people can go get food if they need it, but there really isn’t anywhere for
animals to get help or for families with animals that need help’,” Haney said.
The Troop also started volunteering at a local animal shelter in Yukon, and they discovered
many animals were surrendered to the shelter because people could not afford them. The
experience also led the girls to name the Pet Pantry PAWS Pantry (Pets Are Worth Supporting
(too)).
The Pantry is officially installed, but had an idea to change locations so the pet pantry wasn’t
located too close to another pantry at the dog washing station on Main Street.
The Troop got to check out that separate pantry, and allowed the Troop to ask questions. The
biggest help that came from that discussion was thinking about the critters get in to the pantry
since it would be located outdoors. That influenced the pantry set up to be elevated off the
ground a little bit and required tools like Cedar to help protect the donations received so they
would not be ruined.
“He talked to us about allergies the dogs may have and ingredients and things like that,” Haney
said. “So, we learned a lot from him. The biggest thing was just to kind of really focus on the
true need of the food and keeping it simple and being very thorough with what ingredients are
involved so people are aware of what they’re getting and making sure things were safe for the
animals that were in need.”
Then, Troop 164 crossed paths with K9 University at an event through Pets with People.
“They were all on board,” Haney said. “They thought the idea was wonderful. They wanted to
help in any way that they could. And so, we have installed the Pet Pantry at K9 University on
Northwest Expressway.”
The project was brainstormed over the summer of 2023, and it was finalized last November.
That’s when the volunteering with Pets with People started, and began gathering supplies the
following Spring through donation sites and cookie sales.
The pantry will be a community effort going forward, and will require monthly fundraising to
keep it going. Haney said the girls are going by a biweekly schedule to make sure the pantry
isn’t getting low.
Now, the goal is to spread the word and let people in need know that the pantry is in place.
Those wanting to help through donations, pet supplies and food can go to K9 University or
Pawlished Grooming in Yukon. Additional sites are being worked on at the moment.
