Colorado Pet Pantry has expanded to Mancos, providing a monthly pet food bank every Monday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Mount Lookout Grange.

“We’re super excited to be in the Mancos area,” said Colorado Pet Pantry’s director of marketing Lacey Spruce. “Certainly with the pandemic and more people being out of work, we’ve noticed more pets and families in need.”

The first such food bank was held Jan. 4.

Colorado Pet Pantry started out in 2013 and has since become the largest pet food pantry in the United States. In 2020, the nonprofit served 5.1 millions meals in Colorado, which equates to feeding 85,000 dogs and cats for a month.

Colorado Pet Pantry now operates 70 monthly food banks across the state. It provides monthly pet food to Durango, Towoac, Dolores and Dove Creek as well as emergency food for Dolores, Montezuma and La Plata counties.

The nonprofit hopes to expand to Ignacio and Bayfield as well.

“With so many families struggling, we knew it was the right time to expand to the southwest area of Colorado,” Executive Director Eileen Lambert said in a statement. “Because of our monthly pet food banks, we’ve been able to keep tens of thousands pets fed, housed with their loving families, and out of shelters.”

Those interested can preregister online or register upon arriving.

More information can be found at www.coloradopetpantry.org

The Mount Lookout Grange is at 680 Grand Ave.