Aging Ahead is proud to partner with Five Acres Animal Shelter to assist our Whiskers on Wheels program in St. Charles County! Whiskers on Wheels (WOW) was started through a grant from Meals on Wheels America in 2020 to support homebound older adults with pet food assistance. A critical need was discovered when a meal delivery volunteer reported that a recipient was feeding her daily home-delivered meal to her dog because she could not afford pet food. Aging Ahead received the pet assistance grant and went straight to work. After partnering with The Wet Nose Project, we were able to provide a monthly source of pet food to nearly 90 older adults and 120 pets throughout St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, and Jefferson County.
As the need and program continued to grow, and with funding waning, Five Acres Animal Shelter stepped in at the perfect time. Becky Pogorzelski, President, was introduced to the Whiskers on Wheels program through Tina Gerbitz (St. Peters SCA). Becky was determined to help Whiskers on Wheels participants throughout St. Charles County. She and Jeana Roth, Executive Director, met with Aging Ahead to create a sustainable plan of support. Five Acres Animal Shelter has a great network of supporters throughout the county. Families sponsor the purchase of pet food each month to a WOW recipient. Five Acres delivers the food to each participating Aging Ahead center at the beginning of each month, and a volunteer from Aging Ahead delivers the pet food to the doorstop of WOW participants along with their regular meal delivery. Humans and pets both get fed good-tasting, nutritious food thanks to the help of Five Acres Animal Shelter!
Becky is also a member of the Aging Ahead Advisory Council and continues to advocate for both older adults and animals. If you are interested in learning more about Five Acres and their amazing work, or fostering or adopting a pet, visit https://fiveacresanimalshelter.org. If you’d like to help support the Whiskers on Wheels program by volunteering or donating, please visit our website, https://agingahead.org.