Keep Our Pets Food Bank Sun News Article

Jennifer Donahue walks her pet goat “Kid Rock” at the Keep Our Pets Food Bank in Murrells Inlet. Jennifer and Bill Donahue established the Keep Our Pets Food Bank 501c3 charity in 2012. The nonprofit, which has established a new location at 652 Belair Avenue in Murrells Inlet, distributes about 36,000 pounds of pet food to shelters and members of the community each month. February 14, 2023. JASON LEE jlee@thesunnews.com With goats, chickens and a 3,000-square-foot warehouse with thousands of pounds of pet food, one Murrells Inlet pet organization seems to have it all. Keep Our Pets Food Bank, a 501c3 organization established in 2012, is a nonprofit that provides low-income residents with high-quality pet food, feeding up to seven pets per household. The organization is part of a larger, worldwide organization called Greater Goods, which supplies organizations such as Keep Our Pets Food Bank with food from manufacturers all across the U.S.

Bill Donahue, founder of the organization, says they’ve even received horse and rabbit food. “Anything that goes into the mouth of an animal, we’ll distribute it somehow,” he said.

He attributes the growth of the food bank — which now distributes about 36,000 pounds of food to shelters and around 1,100 clients a month, to hard work. Donahue and his wife, Jennifer, share a love and passion for animals, and have been working with them their entire lives, both separately and together. Jennifer Donahue even has her own business, Tarot by Jennifer, where she does tarot readings for pets — mostly cats and dogs

.“The two of us, you know, are unbeatable now,” Bill Donahue said.Bill Donahue says they have invested around half a million dollars into the location. As a 501c3, its revenue mainly comes from benefactors, but much of the investment came out of Bill’s own pocket, he said. On the property, the couple keep five chickens, two goats, three warehouse cats and a border collie mix named Ryker.

The warehouse on the property keeps just about any pet food brand one can think of. An official grand opening will be March 25, and will include a silent auction, food from Danny’s Barbecue, jewelry vendors and several pet adoption agencies, including a kitten rescue. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. One main reason people end up surrendering their pets is due to a high cost of living and a high cost of pet food, Donahue said. About 6.3 million pets enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Keep Our Pets Food Bank is the only pet food bank like it in South Carolina, according to Bill Donahue. His hope with the organization is to keep the pets with their owners at home, and put “shelters out of business.”