Grinnell College Mini-Grant Spotlight: PALS and Poweshiek County Emergency Management AKC Pet Reunite Program

Cleaning and Caring – Poweshiek Animal League Shelter 

The Poweshiek Animal League Shelter (PALS) is a no-kill animal shelter that serves homeless cats and dogs. PALS provides the animals with food, shelter, veterinary care, enrichment, and kindness. The organization will use a $2,900 Grinnell College Community Mini-Grant to purchase a new dual washer/dryer unit.  

The new machine will allow staff and volunteers to spend more time on enrichment for the animals and less time doing laundry. The unit can handle all the shelter’s laundry, boosting efficiency and serving as the shelter’s primary laundry machine. Caretakers can now focus on how best to keep the animals in their care happy, healthy, and ready to go on to their forever homes.  

Chris Grundler, PALS treasurer, said, “The PALS board of directors greatly appreciates the financial support received from the Grinnell College Community Mini-Grant. Supporting projects like this allows PALS funding to go directly to taking care of the animals.” 

Visit the PALS website for more information on the organization’s mission and pets available for adoption.  

No Pet Left Behind — Poweshiek County Emergency Management AKC Pet Reunite Program 

When disaster strikes, the Emergency Management Agency steps in to provide people with the resources they need to stay safe and remain afloat. When people choose to stay in their homes rather than leave their pets, it puts everyone’s lives at risk.  

Thanks to a new pet disaster relief trailer made possible by a Grinnell College MIni-Grant, pet owners will not have to worry about the lives of their animal companions while preserving their own safety. The Central Iowa American Kennel Club and the Poweshiek County Emergency Management Agency aim to provide needed services to citizens’ pets in times of natural disaster. These organizations have teamed up to create the first AKC Pet Reunite Program Pet Disaster Relief Trailer in the state of Iowa, with support from a $2,511 Grinnell College Community Mini-Grant.  

Equipped to house up to 65 animals, the trailer comes with its own generator. This mobile service is free of charge, and community members can be quickly reunited with their pets rather than making a potentially dangerous post-disaster trek to retrieve them.  

The trailer can also deploy to other nearby counties to help out when natural disasters occur. Other organizations can use the trailer, including the Poweshiek Animal League Shelter, the American Kennel Club, and other pet rescue groups/volunteers. For these reasons, the trailer will be an invaluable resource to keep humans and their animal companions happier and healthier in times of crisis as well as in times of stability.  

Brian Paul, coordinator at Poweshiek County Emergency Management, said, “Poweshiek County EMA, Jasper County EMA, and the Central Iowa AKC have teamed up to bring this joint project to life.” The project is part of the AKC Pet Reunite Program and Disaster Relief Program, which provides EMs with a trailer full of non-perishable pet supplies and sheltering equipment for animals. The trailer can be co-located with a human shelter so pet owners can have easy access to their pets.  

Additional resources can be found at the Poweshiek County Emergency Management website and the AKC Pet Reunite Program website.