We are in the midst of “One Shining Moment” for NCAA men’s basketball, but until Saturday night, the madness of March extends to animal welfare organizations nationwide through a fundraiser known as March Muttness.
Local nonprofit Cody’s Friends has advanced to the March Muttness national championship final, which began at 8 a.m. Thursday and ends at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 29.
“The Wildcats are in March Madness and little Cody’s Friends is in March Muttness. This is huge for us. It is a win for thousands of hungry pets in Arizona and their owners,” said Amber Allen, executive director of the nonprofit started in 2011 by her son, Cody.
Cody’s Friends will be competing against the Yakima Humane Society in Washington; donations can be made online by clicking on the March Muttness link at www.codysfriends.org.
The nonprofit with the highest monetary donations will become the National Champ, and all funds raised directly support efforts by Cody’s Friends to provide more than 22,000 pounds of pet food monthly to 50-plus human service groups, veterans organizations, women’s shelters and others.
In this 2022 file photo, Joy Herrera sorts through a bin of snack pet food as her dog, Scooby-Doo, watches, during a distribution day at Cody’s Friends. The Tucson nonprofit, which distributes pet food in Tucson to those in need, has advanced to the March Muttness national championship final.
It has been a long road to the March Muttness championship. Animal welfare organizations, shelters and rescue groups nationwide compete in the fundraising event; the top fundraisers are placed in a seeded format similar to a March Madness bracket. Cody’s Friends became a qualifying organization and competed against an animal shelter from Florida in the Top 32; it then advanced to the Sweet 16 and defeated a nonprofit from Nevada, eventually topping organizations from Wyoming and Washington to reach the championship. Fundraising begins anew with each round. To date, Cody’s Friends has raised $19,000, which will go directly to buy pet food.
Allen emphasized that the pet food gifted to people in need and their pets is vital. In 2023, the nonprofit spent $125,000 on pet food, and costs continue to rise.
“The price for pet food has never been higher and the need has never been greater, and pet food donations are down nationwide,” Allen said. “We have lots of people hurting and the last thing we want is for people who have a hungry dog or kitty to feel like they have to surrender it so at least it will eat today. We all know that PACC (Pima Animal Care Center) and other shelters are full.”
Supporters of Cody’s Friends, a local nonprofit that provides more than 22,000 pounds of pet food monthly to more than 50 human service groups, can vote to make the nonprofit the winner of March Muttness.
Cody’s Friends distributes pet food directly to those in need from 9 a.m to 11:30 a.m every Wednesday at 4702 N. Flowing Wells; it extends outreach to those in need through local food banks and organizations such as Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, Sister José Women’s Center and many other nonprofits.
“The food banks and other organizations are like satellite outposts,” Allen said. “They clamor for pet food because they like keeping people food for people. They know that if people don’t have pet food, they will give what little food they do have to their pets.”
Go to www.codysfriends.org for more information about March Muttness or Cody’s Friends.
