Organizers of Willow Praise Church’s pet food distribution have had a mission to prevent people giving up their animals due to financial or medical struggles over the years. Located at 32901 Vine St. in Willowick, the distribution has been taking place since 2011 and has since become a drive-thru since the pandemic. Although it’s not a new thing for those involved, the need for the distribution has been peaking for the last five years, said Willow Praise Church Pastor Larry Bogenrief. “We’ve been leading this once a month here,” he said. “We work with the Cleveland Food Bank, so we do 11 tons a month. In November, we served 114,000 meals, 12,500 people total and that represents like 2,000 families.” Located at 32901 Vine St. in Willowick, Willow Praise Church’s pet food distribution has been taking place since 2011 and has since become a drive-through since the pandemic. (Marah Morrison — The News-Herald) Roughly 250 families come through the drive-thru each month at Willow Praise Church, Bogenrief said. In addition, with working with the Eastlake Senior Center’s senior distribution, between 260 and 270 are served there. “Mobile Pantry, one of the programs the Cleveland Food Bank works, do a great job of getting us the resources,” Bogenrief said. “The Pet Pantry is a separate nonprofit called Ohio Paws with Purpose and we’ve partnered with them for probably eight years.” This year, the distributions have seen the highest influx of people as inflation as had an impact on them, Bogenrief said. In previous years, a box of food would be worth $20 and now, it’s $40. “Pet food — same thing,” Bogenrief said. “People are trying to make ends meet and their pets are a priority. Before, it was good to have a pet, but now, it’s essential to have a pet just for the emotional support for sure.” Bogenrief has observed that everyone has been hit a little bit differently as far as how their circumstances are and in difficult circumstances, it’s been great that the distributions have been an option for those in need. Located at 32901 Vine St. in Willowick, Willow Praise Church's pet food distribution has been taking place since 2011 and has since become a drive-through since the pandemic. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Located at 32901 Vine St. in Willowick, Willow Praise Church's pet food distribution has been taking place since 2011 and has since become a drive-through since the pandemic. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Located at 32901 Vine St. in Willowick, Willow Praise Church's pet food distribution has been taking place since 2011 and has since become a drive-through since the pandemic. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Show Caption1 of 3Located at 32901 Vine St. in Willowick, Willow Praise Church's pet food distribution has been taking place since 2011 and has since become a drive-through since the pandemic. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Expand “Our goal is to meet the needs of our community and we’ve dated many times over trying to do that,” he said. “We’re always looking for opportunities to help in that endeavor. We always look for volunteers and partner with people in the community. There are many people here today from various places.” For those interested in volunteer opportunities, they can call the church at 440-944-5683. “We feel it’s important for us as a spiritual community to respond to the needs in a practical way,” Bogenrief said. “That’s been our theme here for quite a few years.”