MASON, Mich. — Cardboard Prophets has tiny pantries located across mid-Michigan. Each pantry is color coded to help identify what goods are inside.
"We have different pantry boxes. Yellow boxes have food in it for people, we have white and blue ones for diapers and red pet pantries," said Cardboard Prophets volunteer Linda Hughson. "This pantry gets used a lot! It gets stocked and used, and sometimes it's really hard to keep it stocked because people do need supplies and pets are critical to mental health."
According to Cardboard Prophets, mental health is a large driving force on why so many people choose to keep their pets during financial hardship. In some cases, choosing a dog's ruff or a shelter's roof.
"I've had people I've tried to get off the street into housing, and once they find out that they gotta surrender the pet into a foster home or a shelter, while they go into a shelter to get their life together, they'll a lot of times probably 99% of the time, they'll say you know what I will do. What I have to do to take care of my pet, I will not surrender them," said Hughson.
The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that roughly 10% of homeless people have pets, which is why Hughson encourages donations.
"Just come drop it off. The only thing that we ask is that you check the dates on it. Don't put on out dated things in there, and make sure that it's not contaminated," said Hughson.
The tiny box in Mason is located behind St. Augustine of Caterbury Church and is open 24 hours.
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