Girls’ Night Out Quickly Goes to the Dogs

They came to be pampered, and pampered they were. They had their nails done by professional manicurists and pedicurists. They had their backs rubbed by massage therapists and their feet soothed by reflexologists. They shared makeup tips and sampled healthy foods, marveled at the latest purses and tried on fashionable jewelry, all for the dogs (and cats) of the world.

More than 75 people, mostly women, attended the second annual Pamper Me Please fund-raising event Saturday, Jan 29, at Christ United Methodist Church in Elmhurst. Proceeds will benefit a new nonprofit, Adocates for Animals USA.

Elmhurst residents Becky Nemchock and Mary Jane Dachtera, along with Alice Sulinski from Oak Brook, started the organization more than a year ago. Their mission: to provide pet food to local food pantries so people don’t have to give up their pets during tough times.

The three were working with the Trap, Neuter, Return project to humanely trap feral cats and ran across a “nice elderly woman” who did not have enough money to buy cat food.

“The way the economy is, with people losing their jobs and not being able to put food on their own table, animals are important,” Nemchock said. “We didn’t know of any other organization that provided pet food to the needy in DuPage County.”

People were either not feeding their animals or giving them people food, which isn’t good for them, she said. Some people were even giving up their medications to buy pet food, she added.

“It was heartbreaking to think that someone would have to give up their pets because they couldn’t afford to feed them,” Nemchock said.

The ladies immediately sprang into action. Dachtera, a professional pet sitter, knew of a client who had a food storage warehouse. The client offered to donate damaged bags of pet food that couldn’t be sold. They transported what they could directly to the food pantries, housing leftovers in Dachtera’s garage.

“When we first suggested pet food donations to one of the food pantries, one of the volunteers said, ‘We don’t have any room,’ " Nemchock said. "So we left a couple bags of dog and cat food. We called a couple days later and the same volunteer said, ‘Oh, it went so quickly, we’d love to have more.' ”

The need continues to grow. The threesome now rents a 24-foot truck once a month to deliver six to 20 pallets of pet food to the Bensenville-Wood Dale Pantry and the  Elmhurst/Yorkfield Food Pantry, which serves people in Elmhurst and surrounding cities.

“We contact pet food distributors for donations, but we mainly rely on the generosity of donations to purchase pet food at cost,” Nemchock said. “We have a list of people we give to, and we don’t want to disappoint them.

That’s why events like Pamper Me Please and the group’s upcoming garage sale May 13-15 are so important, she said. Other local service groups, such as the York High School Key Club and Elmhurst College’s Animal and Veterinary Interest Student Association (AVISA), also contribute. The Key Club is currently holding a pet food drive at the high school, and AVISA will sponsor a Care Walk for Canines April 17, in addition to helping set up the Pamper Me Please event. The rescue group, Magnificent Mutts, even made an appearance to promote adoption of its puppies and kittens.

“We would like to eventually be able to supply rescue groups with food, as well as food pantries and possibly even help out victims of natural disasters,” Nemchock said.

Advocates for Animals USA does not currently have a Web site, though these ladies would like someone to step forward to help them develop one and expand their reach.