Moisson Laval among the beneficiaries from $110,000 donation
The Laval region’s largest central food bank is one of the many organizations across the province that will be receiving a share of $110,000 worth of pet foods and gift cards during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis thanks to a donation by the Mondou retail pet food chain.
While many families and pet owners are going through particularly trying times in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Mondou issued a statement last week saying it decided to do its part by providing more than a hundred thousand dollars worth of help to Moisson Montréal (which works closely with Moisson Laval), as well as to to animal shelters.
Helping pet owners in need
“Through this initiative, Mondou wants to help pet owners in need, so as to prevent them from having to abandon their pet because of financial hardship,” the company, whose headquarters are in the Montreal suburb of Anjou, said in a press release.
“Given the current context, it was only natural for Mondou to continue to be socially involved and to play an active role in a mutual aid movement aimed at helping those most in need,” said Martin Deschênes, Mondou’s CEO and general manager.
Mondou a family business
“Mondou is a Quebec family-owned company that has been caring for the well-being of animals as well as that of its customers and community for more than 80 years. Thanks to our collective effort and – especially to the dedicated work of the wonderful volunteers at Moisson Montréal and at animal shelters – we are convinced that soon it’s going to be OK.”
In an effort to help pet owners directly affected by the current situation, says the company, Mondou will be donating canned cat and dog food, as well as cat litter, to Moisson Montréal. Moisson Montréal will then distribute the products in several Quebec food banks, including Moisson Laval. The company says 5,000 families will have benefited from this assistance by the time the distribution is completed.
Cards worth $30 each
Given that many families currently have no other choice but to turn to various alternatives in order to feed their pets, Mondou said it wanted to help prevent an increase in the number of abandoned animals by giving away 2,100 gift cards valued at $30 each to a dozen animal shelters that in turn will help families in need. The gift cards can be used at any of Mondou’s 67 retail outlets all over Quebec.
Since it was founded in 1938, Mondou has supported a number of causes dedicated to animal welfare. In addition to its popular Mondou Mondon campaign for the MIRA Foundation which has raised $1.6 million in five years, the company, which is owned by the Legault family, has been holding a fundraising campaign to assist animal shelters for the past two years.
Major donations
To date, according to the company, the campaign has raised more than $281,000. Each year, they add, Mondou also donates $1 million dollars’ worth of food to a number of shelters across the province, for a total of 12,000 kilograms per month, the company says. Mondou, which has a longstanding policy of not selling pets, launched adoption zones for cats from rescue shelters at its Saint-Jérôme and Anjou stores last year. However, these are temporarily closed as a result of health and safety measures currently in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Martin C. Barry, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for the Laval News, marty@newsfirst.ca
