For the last six years, Bark Bark Club in Edgewater has been the driving force behind Care For Real's Pet Pantry, which feeds thousands of local animals every year. View Full Caption Facebook/Bark Bark Club

EDGEWATER — Food and clothing drives are often meant to help support neighbors in need, but one group often gets left out: pets.

People "don't realize there's usually an animal at home," said Patti Colandrea, an owner at Bark Bark Club, a pet store 5943 N. Broadway that collects food donations for four-legged companions year-round.

Those donations are then taken to one of the city's only pet food pantries, at Care For Real, 5341 N. Sheridan Road.

In 2016, more than 12,000 pounds — or six tons — worth of food donations were made.

That haul fed more than 3,600 pets whose owners were struggling financially.

To get the program started, she reached out to Care For Real, asking if the organization would distribute donations if she could collect and organize them, she said.

Today, Colandrea works her network of partnerships once a month with a handful of local pet shops in Edgewater and Andersonville, stopping by to pick up bags of food that are then brought to Care For Real's Sheridan Road location.

From 3-5 p.m. the first Thursday of the month, those in need can stop by Care for Real to pick up some grub for mostly dogs and cats.

The demand is there, and keeps growing — especially for cats, whose owners typically have more than one, Colandrea said.

Neighbors are always welcome (and encouraged) to drop off sealed bags of pet food at either Bark Bark Club or Care For Real, Colandrea said.

And from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Care For Real is teaming up with Urban Pooch, 5400 N. Damen Ave., for a night of drinks, food, fundraising and, of course, dogs. Tickets are $40 for humans and $10 for dogs.

A silent auction will include prizes, such as a pair of Cubs tickets, dual membership at the Gene Siskel Film Center and gift certificates for in-home wine sampling. All proceeds from the night go toward Care For Real's pet pantry.

The goal of the night is to bring in $15,000, nearly double what the fundraiser earned last year.

It's a big help that goes a long way and is appreciated by local pet owners who use the service, Colandrea said.

"I used to see people lined up [at Care For Real] waiting for food and it just dawned on me that, 'Oh my god they probably have animals,'" Colandrea said. "It's just grown like crazy ... It's just a good thing so people aren't giving up food for their animals."

Lyle Allen, executive director at Care For Real, said his organization also came to realize through regular interviews with clients that many of them with pets were skipping their own meals to ensure their dog or cat had something to eat, particularly seniors.

Other clients often include working families with kids under age 18 and veterans using service animals.

The realization of how many people living alone that rely on the companionship of their pets, but struggle to make ends meet, provided a devastating snapshot into the lives of some of Chicago's most vulnerable.

"It's just amazing ... the connection people have with their pets," Colandrea said. "There's just a lot of elderly people ... because that's all they have is that cat or that dog, and they're all alone. It's just heartbreaking, so you want to help them keep their pet and keep them healthy.

"It tugs at your heart, because there's so much love, and then there's just dispair."

But it's also provided hope.

Allen said the monthly pet food distributions has become a social event for seniors, who like to swap photos and stories of their beloved pooches.

"The program has evolved to become more than just distributing pet food," Allen said. "For many, this has become a big day out for these folks. A social extension of the program has evolved — the clients know each other now — they’re friends."