Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (Feb. 11, 2025) – Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls initiative is one of its most heart-warming and uplifting services provided to the community. For the previous six years, the program helped provide literal warmth to the pets of San Diego’s homeless population each February with the Cozy Critters event. Thanks to the support and partnership of Lucky Duck Foundation, the program is continuing to expand its efforts to distribute cold-weather supplies to people and pets. Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls team along with Lucky Duck Foundation will be on site at Father Joe’s Neil Good Day Center (299 17th Street San Diego, CA 92101) on Thursday, February 13 starting at 9:00 a.m. to deliver cozy jackets, sweaters and blankets, as well as other necessary supplies for both people and pets.
Helen Woodward Animal Center is honored to partner with Lucky Duck Foundation for its 2025 Cozy Critters visit. With February well underway, San Diego’s brisk evening temperatures are in full swing, creating harsh conditions for those experiencing homelessness. The Center’s Pets Without Walls Cozy Critters program will help individuals combat those conditions by providing pet supplies specifically aimed at keeping our pet friends safe and protected from the elements. Pet supplies include pet sweaters, pet blankets, leashes and pet hygiene products. At the same time, Lucky Duck Foundation will be on-site to distribute coats, food, water and other essential supplies to our human friends in need.
With the knowledge that one-in-four individuals experiencing homelessness have a pet, Helen Woodward Animal Center launched Pets Without Walls. The program began eight years ago determined to join efforts with other local humanitarian organizations to assist unhoused families and help keep their furry companions fed and healthy. On a weekly basis Pets Without Walls will visit local shelters headed by Alpha Project, Father Joe’s, Interfaith, PACE, Meals on Wheels and PATH in San Diego, to provide health checks, spay/neuter surgeries, microchipping, preventative medical care, important vaccinations, flea and tick medication, and pet food (through an extension of the AniMeals program).
The Lucky Duck Foundation was formed in 2005 by Pat & Stephanie Kilkenny to raise funds and awareness for numerous charitable causes throughout San Diego, including Helen Woodward Animal Center. The co-founders match $1.5 million in donations annually. In 2016, after noticing San Diego’s growing homeless crisis, the Foundation realized the urgent need for action and determined they could achieve the greatest impact if they focused Lucky Duck’s efforts exclusively on homelessness, which resulted in their support of the Center’s Pets without Walls program.
“The love these people have for their pets, and the lengths they go to and sacrifice to provide for them over themselves is remarkable, and truly heartwarming,” says Helen Woodward Animal Center VP of Development Renee Resko, “This is why we do what we do- to help those that no matter the circumstance care for their pets. It is an honor to partner with Lucky Duck for this special Cozy Critters event to assist in helping keep these individuals and their pets healthy and warm, while they focus on getting themselves back on their feet.”
Members of the media are invited to the Pets Without Walls ‘Cozy Critters’ Visit at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 13 at Father Joe’s Neil Good Day Center (299 17th Street San Diego, CA 92101).
Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
MEDIA CONTACT:
PR & Communications Director, Jessica Gercke at [email protected] cell (619) 977-0999
PR & Communications Manager Austin Hale at [email protected], cell (919) 830-0679
PR & Communications Manager Mike Makie at [email protected], cell (619)884-4799
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About Helen Woodward Animal Center
Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization where “people help animals and animals help people.” Founded in 1972 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the Center provides services for more than 90,000 people and more than 10,000 animals annually through adoptions, educational and therapeutic programs both onsite and throughout the community. Helen Woodward Animal Center is also the creator of the International Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, the International Remember Me Thursday® campaign and The Business of Saving Lives Workshops, teaching the business of saving lives to animal welfare leaders from around the world. For more information, go to: https://animalcenter.org.
About the Lucky Duck Foundation
Since 2005, The Lucky Duck Foundation (LDF) has raised funds and awareness for numerous charitable causes throughout San Diego. In 2017, due to the growing homelessness epidemic, LDF pivoted to focus on providing aid and relief for individuals and families suffering from homelessness. Since then, LDF and its co-founders, Pat & Stephanie Kilkenny, have funded, activated, and led several high-impact programs that alleviate the suffering of homelessness throughout San Diego County, including bridge shelters, employment and job training, research, permanent supportive housing, outreach, and more. Originally called the AGIA Foundation (Arrowhead General Insurance Agency), the name was changed to the Lucky Duck Foundation to honor the Kilkenny family’s Irish heritage and as a nod to their love of the University of Oregon. The premise is simple: if you have had some good luck and fortune in your life, share your luck with those less fortunate. And, all donations are matched by Pat & Stephanie, up to $1.5 million per year.
