Mary St. Clair says she'd go without food if that's what it took to feed her 3-month-old kitten.

Luckily, she doesn't have to. For the past eight months, the 77-year-old Lake Worth woman, who can't get around on her own and lives on Social Security, has gotten warm meals delivered five days a week by Meals on Wheels volunteers.

And now, her cat rescued from outside her Lake Worth home gets food deliveries, too.

"Oh, it makes it so much easier," St. Clair said, "because I don't have to worry about how to get food for him."

She's one of the first to sign up for a pet program that Meals on Wheels of the Palm Beaches is rolling out this month. Called Animeals, it's funded by a $2,500 grant from the Banfield Charitable Trust a nonprofit arm of a pet hospital and provides free pet food to Meals on Wheels clients who have cats or dogs.

So far, about five of the 100 homebound senior citizens who rely on the local Meals on Wheels have signed up to receive pet food.

The nonprofit, a branch of the national organization, started four years ago and recently expanded into the Lake Worth area. It delivers about 26,000 meals annually.

Many of the seniors who receive meals are isolated and have little companionship aside from their pets, said Debbie Emerick, director of volunteer services for the local Meals on Wheels. Their cats and dogs make all the difference in their lives, but they can be expensive to feed and care for.

"Pets are natural anti-depressants, I like to say," Emerick said. "So to support that companionship just helps their overall quality of life in measures."

Similar pet food delivery programs are offered by other Meals on Wheels branches, including the one in Broward County. Emerick learned of the Banfield grant at a national Meals on Wheels conference and applied soon after. When the grant runs out, she plans to keep Animeals going through community support.

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Meals on Wheels of the Palm Beaches now delivering pet food