Rachael Ray Donates Seven Tons of Treats to Area Shelter

http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_fd69c450-2bc8-11de-87c6-001cc4c002e0.html

Stephanie De Pasquale Posted: Friday, April 17, 2009 10:25 pm
"Celebration" played loudly over the stereo as a dozen volunteers spent Friday morning unloading seven tons - yes, tons - of dog treats that TV chef and talk-show host Rachael Ray donated to the Quad-Cities Greyhound Rescue Center in Maysville, Iowa.
They passed box after box from one person to the next until a 10-by-10-foot room was filled from floor to ceiling and a second storage pod was half-full.
The donations were the result of a letter that Rochelle Buskirk, the fundraising coordinator for Greyhound Rescue, sent to the celebrity, asking for help. The shelter houses 50 dogs and goes through 12 pounds of treats per day. At that rate, even large bags are used up quickly and the shelter is always running out.
"It was the right place at the right time," Buskirk said. "It was a great deal for us because the fact of the matter is that a terrific donation like that, for a nonprofit that is a totally volunteer-run organization, is pretty big for us."
Every cent of the profits from the celebrity's dog food, Rachael Ray Nutrish, funds the Rachael's Rescue effort. The money is then donated to shelters and used to provide food and treats to animals in need. Fifty-one tons of Rachael Ray Nutrish have been donated to shelters throughout the country.
"These are good, whole foods. I like the fact that she includes plenty of vegetables in there. I really like that and its good protein sources," said Ernie Ward, the veterinary correspondent for the "Rachael Ray Show."
"The food that Rachael is donating is of very good quality. Most of the time, the shelters that I work with, we are not able to give a food of that high of quality."
The donation from Rachael's Rescue will last the Quad-Cities
Greyhound Rescue for nine months to a year, Buskirk said.
"It means that we can concentrate efforts on other things that we need and don't have to worry about the treats for a while," she added. "A huge thank you to Rachael Ray Nutrish because its been like Christmas around here today."
However, the storage rooms were nearly empty before the donation arrived because the Greyhound Rescue has run out of dog food that is normally donated by Purina, and they don't know when another shipment will come in, she said.
It takes 50 pounds of dog food to feed the animals for one day, and the rescue is relying on volunteers to provide food until more arrives from the company.
"Without the donations, we would not stay afloat," Buskirk said. "You hate to complain because everybody's struggling. But we've been around since 1997, so we make it work and it's always a work in progress and everybody out there puts in 110 percent to get it done.
"But the rewards are endless with the greyhounds, they really are. They sneak into your heart and it happens fast."
Posted in Local on Friday, April 17, 2009 10:25 pm Updated: 9:29 am. Tags: Dogs, Rachael Ray, Quad-cities Greyhound Rescue Center