in wake of COVID-19, ifaw teams up with World Central Kitchen

This week, IFAW joined forces with chef José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen and Berkeley Humane to provide emergency grant funding to source and distribute pet food to families impacted by COVID-19 in Oakland, California.

In the course of IFAW’s disaster response work, we have had the privilege of working with many incredible teams from World Central Kitchen. With so many communities overwhelmed meeting basic daily care needs right now, pet food assistance is critical for families in our communities. The core of the initiative is to keep families together, healthy, and fed.

Food packages are being delivered to Oakland Unified School District’s food distribution sites where they are offered to all families.

“We’re so glad to add pet food to our food distribution sites” commented Preston Thomas, Oakland Unified School District’s food distribution coordinator. “It can make all the difference for our families.”

World Central Kitchen has currently established twelve locations throughout Oakland to provide healthy food to area families in conjunction with Oakland Unified School District. The International Fund for Animal Welfare brought Berkley Humane and World Central Kitchen together in response to the growing need to help get pet food to those who need it most.

As reports starting rolling in from families struggling to feed their pets, seniors unable to safely shop for pet food, and partners on the ground stretched beyond capacity, our team jumped into action. In places like Playa del Carmen, IFAW is providing critical services to families and seniors in addition to distributing pet food and providing animal services.

Globally, IFAW has distributed over 10,000 pounds of food for dogs, cats, chickens, and other animals during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are working with our partners to provide even more.

Millions of animals are in need and we’re proud to unite with organizations like World Central Kitchen and our partners on the ground to help. Together, we’re working to ease the financial, physical, and emotional burden affecting both people and animals.