On Christmas Eve, Wednesday afternoon, Scott Poore delivered 200 hamburgers to shelter dogs at KC Pet Project’s Swope Park location in Kansas City, Mo.

It was the 10th year Poore has brought a special holiday meal to dogs at the shelter, a gesture that coincided with KC Pet Project waiving adoption fees through Dec. 31. Community donations are essential for animal shelters, funding critical operations like food and medical care, especially as nearly 80% of shelters face chronic underfunding.

Poore, identified as an advocate affiliated with KC Pet Project, brought plain McDonald’s burgers for the animals and organized distribution at the Swope Park facility. Volunteers from Scenthound helped hand out the meals to the dogs housed at the shelter. This collaborative effort showcases how individual volunteers and organizations can support animal shelters—individuals can also help by donating supplies or volunteering for tasks like dog walking and cleaning kennels.

The delivery on Wednesday afternoon continued a private holiday ritual by Poore that the shelter received at its Swope Park site in Kansas City, Mo. KC Pet Project also announced the temporary waiver of adoption fees through Dec. 31, a move that ran alongside the holiday meal effort, aimed at increasing adoption rates. In 2024, 57% of dogs and 64% of cats entering U.S. shelters were adopted, indicating the ongoing need for such initiatives.

Staff at the shelter coordinated staffing and kennel management to allow the dogs the special treat. Scenthound’s participation supported the shelter team in distributing the hamburgers across the facility’s play and kennel areas, ensuring the animals could be fed without disrupting daily care routines. This logistical planning highlights the importance of community involvement in shelter operations.

Poore’s action—bringing 200 plain hamburgers—was captured in local coverage of the event; local outlet On Air – B98 carried details about the delivery and the shelter’s holiday programming. The combination of the meal delivery and the temporary waiver of adoption fees was presented by KC Pet Project as part of the shelter’s seasonal efforts at the Swope Park location. The fee waiver runs through 2025-12-31.

For the shelter, the afternoon’s logistics required coordinating feeding times and supervising interactions so staff could offer the hamburgers as a one-off holiday treat while keeping routine care on schedule. Scenthound’s involvement provided additional hands for distribution and helped streamline the process for the shelter team.

Poore’s decade-long tradition was evident in the scale of the delivery and the planning that accompanied it. Bringing 200 hamburgers to a single facility on Christmas Eve underscored the annual nature of the gesture and the role of individual advocates in supporting shelter operations. As community involvement and donations remain vital, every contribution counts in improving the lives of shelter animals.

The Swope Park location of KC Pet Project handled the meals and enacted the adoption-fee waiver policy through the end of the month, closing out a day that combined holiday celebration for the animals with an effort to encourage adoptions.

Source

Original reporting: view the original article.