Bella's Blessings
Bella's Blessings is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization supporting pets in need by providing free pet food and supplies through honor-based pet blessing boxes. Our mission is to foster compassion and community and help pets avoid the shelter and stay with the families they love during challenging times. We believe that pets are family, and no family should have to part with their pets due to financial difficulties or hardships.
The Challenge
According to a 2024 poll by the Humane World for Animals, approximately 20 million pets in the U.S. live in poverty alongside their families. In addition, 43% of all pet owners report having been unable to pay for their pets’ needs at some point due to financial hardship.
Unable to afford care, many pet owners face heartbreaking decisions. In the first half of 2025 alone, an estimated 2.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters and rescues across the country—many surrendered only because their families couldn’t keep up with costs.
ASPCA Shelter Animals Count data found that in 2024, about 607,000 companion animals were euthanized in shelters—334,000 dogs and 273,000 cats. Included in this sobering statistic are animals whose caretakers could not afford their care and had to give them up.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Bella’s Blessings offers an upstream solution that addresses a root cause of shelter overcapacity through helping to fill part of the existing resource gap. By focusing on accessible distribution of pet food and supplies to families through “Little Free Pet Pantries” or “Pet Blessing Boxes,” we can help keep pets out of shelters—safe, cared for, and with the families who love them.
News and Events
The mission of DArt (Doraville Art) is to create and encourage art in the city of Doraville to the benefit of the community through advocacy, education, and opportunity. In addition to their stellar events and educational opportunities, DArt facilitates new public art in Doraville, including art by new artists and artists from under-represented communities. We were grateful that DArt artists designed and painted our very first Pet Blessing Box. This DArt blog post "Art Meets Community Care: DArt Paints Doraville's First Bella's Blessing Box” captures the wonderful partnership between Bella's Blessings and DArt and the ensuring synergy of art and community care.
Decaturish came out and covered our Doraville launch! Founder Jen Simmons gave an interview to Decaturish staff and explained the impetus for starting Bella's Blessings: Bella's Blessings hosts ribbon cutting for pet blessing box.
In conjunction with the City of Doraville, we’re launching our very first Bella’s Blessings Box April 10th!
It will be a celebration and ribbon-cutting, and we're asking that the community bring donations to stock the box and also take what they need from our pet food and supply table!
What started as a simple white box is now a beautiful piece of community art, and we can't wait to see how Doraville Art brought it to life!
