Purina® Cat Chow® Donates $225,000 To 50 Shelters Nationwide As Part Of "50 Years. 50 Shelters." Program

ST. LOUIS, June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to the overwhelming support of cat people across the country, Purina^® Cat Chow^® announced that it exceeded its "50 Years. 50 Shelters." program donation goal and is donating $225,000 to 50 participating shelters.

The Purina Cat Chow "50 Years. 50 Shelters." program helped celebrate the brand's 50^th anniversary and 50 years of feeding great relationships between cats and their owners by supporting 50 cat-focused shelters nationwide – one in every state. The program provided product and monetary donations via online consumer voting to acknowledge these shelters' dedication to the cats they serve and help facilitate the start of more cat-owner relationships.

To complete the program, today Purina Cat Chow is delivering a "50 Years. 50 Shelters." Care Package to each of the 50 participating shelters. The Care Packages are valued at $1,000 each and include Purina^® Cat Chow^® brand cat food, Purina^® Tidy Cats^® brand cat litter and general cat care items – including toys, beds, scratching posts and food dishes.

"We want to thank the thousands of cat people and cat supporters across the country who joined our 50 year celebration by voting for their state's local shelter," said Vincent Biroscak, Purina Cat Chow brand director. "You helped demonstrate what we believe – that someone should always be there for the cat owners, cat supporters and the cats that impact our lives – and helped us to make an even bigger impact than expected."

"50 Years. 50 Shelters." Statistics

• Donated $225,000 in product and monetary donations – up from the original goal of $200,000 – to help thousands of cats nationwide via the following:
  • $100,000 through four shelter makeovers;
  • $75,000 in cash donations;
  • $50,000 in care packages;
• Helped improve the lives of more than 13,200 cats via four shelter makeover events
• Provided more than 500 volunteer hours at shelter makeover events
• Supplied more than 12,000 pounds of Purina^® Cat Chow^® brand cat food
• Delivered more than 20,000 pounds of Purina^® Tidy Cats^® brand cat litter
• Gave more than 8,000 cat care supply items
• Painted walls with more than 50 gallons of paint

Additional Ways of Giving Thanks to Cat-Focused Shelters
In addition to the Care Packages, Purina Cat Chow gave back to shelters two more ways through this initiative: a consumer participation program and shelter makeovers.

On May 13, Purina Cat Chow launched a consumer voting component and pledged to donate $1, up to $1,000, per shelter (total of $50,000) for every vote cast at www.catchow.com/50shelters.  Thanks to the overwhelming support of cat people across the country, all 50 shelters reached their $1,000 donation goal in just three short weeks. Based on this response, Purina Cat Chow pledged to donate up to an additional $25,000 to the 50 participating shelters. Cat people helped reached the new goal before the program end date of June 14. By voting, cat people helped raise a total of $75,000 for the 50 participating shelters.

Purina Cat Chow also conducted four shelter facility makeovers in just three months valued at $100,000 as part of its "50 Years. 50 Shelters." program. The shelter renovations included custom transformations to meet each facility's needs. Purina Cat Chow funded the renovations and provided a team of more than 100 volunteers to support the four makeover events. The renovated facilities include:  

To learn more about Purina Cat Chow "50 Years. 50 Shelters." program or how to contact a participating shelter about volunteer opportunities, adoptable pets or other support they may need, visit www.catchow.com/50shelters.

About Nestle Purina PetCare and Purina Cat Chow Brand Cat Food
The North American headquarters for Nestle Purina PetCare is located at Checkerboard Square in St. Louis, Mo., where Ralston Purina was founded more than a century ago. Nestle Purina PetCare promotes responsible pet care, humane education, community involvement and the positive bond between people and their pets. One of the leading global players in the pet food industry, Nestle Purina PetCare is part of the Swiss-based Nestle S.A. – the world's largest food company. With nutrition for each life stage, Purina^® Cat Chow^® brand Cat Food offers a family of products with 100 percent complete and balanced nutrition for physical health and well being. For more information on Purina Cat Chow, visit catchow.com.

SOURCE Purina Cat Chow