Since 2016, the Lorain County Pit Crew has upheld the mission of keeping pets with their owners. The crew’s main goal, according to President Candi Rogers, is to make sure no pets around the county are left behind, put in shelters, or euthanized.
As part of their wider mission, the Lorain County Pit Crew uses Christmas Eve as their biggest community giving day of the year. Rogers said that the annual endeavor stemmed from one specific instance during the crew’s first year in operation.
“We started back in 2016. … One place in Medina, a pet pantry, would give us overflow of their stuff to pass out to the community,” she said. “We went around on Christmas Eve one day to take some food to an elderly lady who had no way to get it.”
One thing led to another, Rogers said. Community members around the county helped lead the group to fellow pet owners in need. Over the following seven years, the crew’s Christmas Eve supply giveaway became Rogers’ favorite day of the year.
“It’s the best day of the year,” she said. “I like giving gifts, and this is the best. We go around and find so many people… We want everybody to have a great Christmas, if possible.”
The supply drop included food, cat litter, and gift bags full of toys. Rogers said that the need for pet supplies is vital throughout Lorain County, and especially in the city of Lorain.
“We still will just drive through the low-income neighborhoods and end up meeting more people who don’t even know about us,” she said. “It’s (a huge need). Lorain County is not a very wealthy area. I was born and raised here, so we realize the need.”
Rogers explained that this year’s holiday supply drop almost didn’t happen. A few days before Christmas Eve, much of the group’s collected supplies were stolen from the donation bin of a local pet store, she said.
Rogers thanked the community for banding together. Without their support, pet owners around the county would have had to make the unfair choice between Christmas dinner, Christmas presents and pet food.
“We have enough to help at least 100 families today, easy,” Rogers said. “We were really upset earlier when our stuff was stolen. … Recently, last week I think it was, we sent our volunteer to get out stuff, only to find out that two people had already shown up and taken the stuff.”
Rogers said the reactions from pet owners receiving the gifts have been “overwhelming.” Some pet owners often refuse help, whether out of embarrassment or an inability to find the Pit Crew as a whole.
“In the beginning, people are a little bit afraid,” she said. “A lot of them are even on public assistance and this and that, and they’re not even supposed to have a dog… We’re kind of a no-questions-asked organization. Do you have a dog and need help? Here you go.”
Those looking for help from the Lorain County Pit Crew can contact them through their Facebook page, crew member Jen Engle said.
