Grove City Messenger - January 10th, 2021

PAGE 4 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - January 10, 2021
By Christine Bryant
Staff Writer
Community Focus
Keeping seniors with their pets
A pet can make even the darkest days brighter.
Just ask Brian, who affectionately calls his three cats,
Silver, Amber and Little Stinker.
“My pets cheer me up, give my life more purpose, and
give me something to live for,” he says.
Like many, however, the Columbus resident is on a
strict budget that can be maxed out each month with the
addition of pet food and veterinary expenses.
LifeCare Alliance is working to ensure clients like Brian
don’t have to worry about losing their pets due to a lack of
funds or access to resources, especially considering the
number of benefits owning a pet provides.
“Our clients are generally isolated and the pets are
their families,” said Chuck Gehring, CEO of LifeCare
Alliance, which provides services like Meals-on-Wheels.
“The pet becomes the counselor, social worker and security
system, and when you’re home all day, especially now with
COVID, the pet is your social network.”
However, purchasing a cost-efficient 50-pound bag of
pet food is nearly impossible for most clients, and veterinary
bills to maintain a pet’s health can be too costly.
“With many seniors and medically-challenged people,
when they are living on Social Security and can’t get out as
much, they give up their pets because of the fact that they
can’t take care of them,” Gehring said.
Those who don’t want to give up their pets may resort
to sharing their food from their Meals on Wheels deliveries.
“When we give food to the people, we need them to eat
all of their food,” he says. “That might be the only big meal
they get that day.”
In response to this common issue among its clients,
LifeCare Alliance created the Senior PetCare program,
which provides eligible clients with assistance in taking
care of their pets so that clients can remain in their own
home. The program is available to clients who live in counties
serviced by the Meals-on-Wheels program:
Franklin, Madison, Champaign, Logan and Marion.
Volunteers deliver pet food to clients’ homes, as
well as assist with transportation for veterinary
care.
“This has allowed clients to retain their pets and
best friends, and they say it makes all the difference
in the world and in their mental state,”
Gehring said. “We’ve had clients tell us that their
friends are dying because of aging, and this time of
year because it’s gray outside, they go into depression.”
In fact, Gehring says 70 percent of the organization’s
clients say they see no other adult on a weekly
basis other than the volunteers delivering meals
to them.
Michelle Jones, communications director for
LifeCare Alliance, says the PetCare program provided
pet food to more than 800 clients and their
1,100 pets in 2019.
The program relies entirely on donations of
funds, pet products and volunteer time. In 2019,
volunteers contributed more than 2,100 hours to
sort, package and deliver pet food, and several
retail vendors and manufacturing facilities
throughout central Ohio donate pet food, litter and
supplies.
Gehring says Walmart’s distribution center in Grove
City has been one of the largest donors, offering broken
bags of dog food that workers have taped up but cannot sell
to consumers.
While dog food donations are among the most common,
the organization often uses donated funds to purchase cat
food and pay for veterinary care.
“We also need other things like toys, beds, scratching
posts, anything like that,” Gehring said.
There are several volunteer opportunities available for
those who want to help. On-site opportunities at the organization’s
storage facility, located at 670 Harmon Ave.,
Columbus, include repackaging the food or performing
the delivery routes. Donations can be dropped
off at the Harmon Avenue facility as well.
“When donors are buying their own pet food,
BUDGET
Continued from page 1
“The budget that was approved on Dec. 22 by the
board of trustees is all about maintenance and being
good stewards of taxpayer money,” said Shane
Farnsworth, township administrator.
In the $22.5 million budget, the largest financial
appropriations come at the fire department, which will
spend approximately $15.2 million on salaries and benefits
for its staff of more than 100. Those monies also
include a board approved 3 percent cost-of-living raise
and the hiring of new staff: the board approved a
request to hire three full-time firefighters at its Jan. 5
trustees meeting due to impending retirements.
Money has been appropriated to pay off more than
$1 million in equipment loans — Farnsworth said that
was completed at the beginning of the year — and there
are plans in the budget to purchase new station vehicles.
There are also plans to have repairs and maintenance
completed at each of the four fire stations at an
estimated cost of $90,000.
The road department funds saw a reduction in revenue
due to the delay in motor vehicle license tax collections
but there are still plans to purchase new
equipment through an Ohio EPA grant.
“We don’t exactly know when that grant is going to
go through,” said Farnsworth, “but we will be able to
www.columbusmessenger.com
Columbus resident Brian (last name withheld) is pictured here
with his cat Little Stinker. Brian is a LifeCare Alliance client who
is part of the organization’s Senior PetCare program.
they can buy a little extra and give it to us,” Gehring said.
Monetary donations can be made online at lifecarealliance.org
or sent via check to LifeCare Alliance, Attn:
Development, 1699 W. Mound St., Columbus, Ohio 43223.
In both cases, individuals can specify that they want their
donations to go to the PetCare program.
For Brian, the PetCare program provides reassurance
that his pets’ needs will be met each month so they can
stay together as a family.
“The gifts of pet food help me to pay for my other living
expenses and groceries,” he said. “This program is very
helpful for those who have difficulty getting around. I
appreciate the program and I like that my pets are happy,
too.”
Editor’s note: Brian’s last name is withheld due to
HIPPA policies at LifeCare Alliance.
replace several of our old dump trucks within the coming
year.”
The budget also allows for resurfacing projects and
minor road repairs throughout several subdivisions
but Farnsworth said those roads have yet to be identified.
“We are working closely with the Franklin County
Engineer’s Office to identify the streets that are in
most need of repair.”
The 2021 budget also allows for upgrades to township
parks: Tanglebrook Park is slated to receive
repairs to its bike path and parking lot and have new
playground equipment installed, while the park in the
Emersonia subdivision will also receive new equipment.
“Not only was the playground equipment old, but we
had to take out most of the fun stuff at the start of the
pandemic last year,” said Farnsworth.
In other township news, the board selected Jim
Rauck to serve as the chairman at its Jan. 5 meeting.
It will be for a one-year term with Dave Burris serving
as the vice-chair. Additionally, Rauck will serve as the
fire department liaison, Burris the administrative liaison
and Ron McClure as the road department liaison.