In August 2023, when wildfires decimated Maui, Hawaii, helpers close to and much pitched in to assist the group. Amongst them was Jaron Lukas, the CEO of Yumwoof, an air-dried pet food firm based mostly in Austin, Texas.
A small startup within the very saturated pet market, Lukas hadn’t but forayed into philanthropy, however the wildfires impressed him to donate $30,000 value of pet food to pups in want.
The expertise was so pivotal that he lastly had his eureka second: Yumwoof would create a digital pet food pantry to assist feed canines in instances of disaster or vital monetary conditions.
“Very like a bodily meals pantry helps communities feed folks in monetary hardship, our digital pantry is a useful resource serving to these in extreme monetary issue feed their canines,” Yumwoof’s web site mentioned.
So, how does it work?
“When disasters happen, we choose an area 501(c)3 to associate with as our boots on the bottom who can present sooner reduction to canines in want,” Lukas defined in an e-mail to Good Good Good.
That is precisely what Yumwoof did in response to the wildfires, partnering with the Maui Humane Society to distribute the donation to three,000 native canines.
“Once we see a catastrophe has taken place and it is doubtless that canines have been displaced, we’ll attain out to native charities within the space to see who wants help,” Lukas continued. “We’ll then make a donation of Yumwoof pet food based mostly on the necessity and circumstances.”
Along with catastrophe reduction, Yumwoof additionally has a historical past of supporting folks in monetary want. Final 12 months through the SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood, the corporate supplied discounted pet food vouchers to assist shoulder the burden for hanging employees.
Lukas additionally made it clear that the corporate welcomes any nonprofit to achieve out for assist at charity@yumwoof.com, no matter catastrophe or disaster.
To proceed providing free pet food, although, the small and scrappy firm needed to get, properly… scrappy.
The funds allotted for these charitable endeavors come from one very particular not-for-profit buy on Yumwoof’s web site: canine poop baggage.
“As soon as we made this enormous donation of pet food [to the Maui Humane Society], it was clear to me that I needed to maintain doing this and develop our ongoing efforts. Nonetheless, as a small firm, we don’t have the monetary assets to continuously take giant losses like that,” Lukas mentioned.
“In order that’s why I used to be centered on growing a means to make use of the capitalistic system to boost cash for the Yumwoof Canine Meals Pantry — which resulted in our Charity Canine Poop Baggage.”
The luggage — aptly listed as Charity Poop Baggage — are reportedly biodegradable and made with plant-based supplies, so that they naturally decompose with out dropping the need of being leak-proof and mess-free.
In addition they don’t herald any revenue to the corporate, with each sale being directed proper again into the meals pantry.
“The thought to make use of poop baggage as a technique to increase funds for the pantry got here to me in a flash of inspiration whereas strolling my canine. Poop baggage are one thing all canine mother and father want, and so they’re not core to our meals enterprise — so we aren’t as involved about maximizing earnings,” Lukas mentioned.
“Due to this, I noticed I might create Charity Poop Baggage as a technique to construct model consciousness (which nonetheless helps our meals enterprise) whereas doing good in a not-for-profit means on the similar time.”
Lukas additionally discovered attraction within the ubiquitous nature of the luggage; he mentioned any retailer — like a present store or out of doors provide retailer — might carry these poop baggage, even when they don’t usually promote pet meals.
That mentioned, if people have already got their inventory of doo-doo baggage, they will additionally donate on to the meals pantry, constructing Yumwoof’s financial institution of charitable funds.
“Nothing has made me prouder than Yumwoof feeding hundreds of canines in Maui final 12 months,” Lukas mentioned in a press launch saying the meals pantry.
“Pet mother and father can now contribute to environmental sustainability whereas supporting our pantry, guaranteeing that canines in want obtain high-quality diet.”
To buy Charity Poop Baggage or donate on to the meals pantry, go to Yumwoof’s web site.
The hyperlinks within the earlier sentence are affiliate hyperlinks — which assist our work sharing constructive information like this. The whole lot on this article is independently written and free from bias.
Header picture courtesy of Yumwoof/Jaron Lukas
