AmeriCorps volunteer Mollie Otero tried to comfort a young Independence Academy student recently who was crying because her family couldn't afford to buy food for their cat.

The girl told Otero she couldn't keep her pet.

“I came home upset, started making phone calls,” Otero said.

For Mesa State College AmeriCorps' spring community project Otero proposed organizing a pet food drive after she learned pet food was a commonly requested item at food banks. She named the project “Rocky's Mission” after her 2-year-old sheltie dog.

At Catholic Outreach's food bank, clients take food for their pets as quickly as it comes in, Otero said.

Between March 10 and April 10, various retail stores, churches and schools will be collecting pet food to distribute to various local food banks.

The collection culminates with a pet parade 1 p.m. April 10 at Longs Memorial Park in Clifton where there will be tables set up with information about pets.

Registration for the parade is at 11:30 a.m. The registration fee is a large bag of any kind of pet food. Food collected that day will be brought to the Western Slope Food Bank of the Rockies which then distributes the pet food to various food banks.

Food Bank of the Rockies manager Starlene Collins said “when Mollie got a hold of me it was just a godsend. It's a great partnership.

“It's bad enough to lose your job without having to lose your pet, too,” Collins said.

Apparently, fewer people are relinquishing pets than in the past.

Mesa County Animal Services expected an increase this year in owner relinquishments due to the economy. People giving up their pets increased steadily from 2003 to 2008, said Animal Services Director Penny McCarty. Since 2008, however, pet relinquishments have decreased, she said.

“We attribute this change to the fact that over the last 25 years, more people have grown to consider their pet a member of their family,” she said.

Many homeless individuals are very responsible pet owners, McCarty said.

“Their pet is all they have.”