LOCUST, N.C. (April 11, 2024) – As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, the No. 47 Camaro driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will carry the Blue Buffalo and Boost by Kroger livery. Away from the racetrack, Blue Buffalo and Kroger Delivery will team up with pit reporter and play-by-play for Fox Sports, Jamie Little to celebrate a milestone in her ‘Shelter Surprise’ mission to save and help rescue animals across the country.
Since 2017, Little has organically visited 26 shelters across the country on race weekends to make donations of food and supplies to help enable them to continue their missions of helping those animals in need of finding their forever families. Many of Little’s endeavors were done without any additional assistance from corporate partners or even anyone other than her going to the facilities. During that time, Little has donated more than $95,000 worth of supplies to those facilities and showcased countless animals looking for their new families through her social media channels, undoubtably saving countless lives in the process.
“The Shelter Surprises really started for me as a way to help the local animal shelters in the various cities that I was visiting through traveling the NASCAR circuit,” said Little. “In some cases, we would be under a rain delay, and I had extra time in the market and I would simply head to the store to purchase whatever would fit into my rental vehicle that weekend and head to a local shelter. And of course, once I was there, I had to take time to visit with the adoptable residents and wanted to help find them homes, so I posted them on my social platforms. Over time, while I have a lot of fans message me or talk with me about my career in motorsports, I have just as many talk with me about helping animals or asking how they can get involved or start their own shelter surprises and that for me has really been a wonderful thing.”
Blue Buffalo and Kroger Delivery are teaming up with Little this weekend for her milestone ‘Shelter Surprise’ visit. On Saturday afternoon, the group will visit Operation Kindness, a life-saving shelter located in Carrolton, Texas. Blue Buffalo and Kroger will load up the Kroger Delivery truck with dog/cat food, treats along with litter, beds, toys, leashes and other much needed supplies. With these donations, Little’s total donations will crest the $100,000 mark.
In addition to the donations of supplies, Blue Buffalo will pay for 100 adoptions at Operation Kindness and Boost by Kroger will donate a Boost membership to the shelter for their use. Kroger Health Savings cards will also be placed within the adoption packages to make pet parents aware of the opportunity to have their pet’s prescriptions filled at their local Kroger Pharmacy.
“The mission that Jamie has been on is commendable and truly representative of the promise that our founders’ at BLUE made, which was not only to make the best pet food, but also a promise to help dogs and cats in need,” said Rob Branham, Senior Customer Manager, Blue Buffalo. “We’re proud to help with 100 adoptions at Operation Kindness as well as provide them with BLUE dog and cat food as part of Jamie’s shelter surprise here in the Texas market.”
To further honor Little’s mission of helping animals in need, Blue Buffalo and Kroger have added the name ‘Stella’ to the passenger side window of the No. 47 for this weekend’s race in Texas. Stella was Little’s first rescue and she passed away earlier this year. Thanks to Stella, Little’s eyes and heart were opened to the amazing benefits of rescue and her spirit lives on through each and every shelter pet that’s been saved through the awareness Little has brought to the need nationwide.
“I’m proud to carry Stella’s name on my Boost by Kroger/Blue Buffalo Camaro this weekend,” said Ricky Stenhouse Jr. “And to be associated with such a great partner like Blue Buffalo who does so much to help pets around the country and to see them team up with Jamie Little for her milestone Shelter Surprise this weekend shows how caring and generous they are. Opportunities like this are just one example of how all the partners associated with this Kroger Racing program are able to make the most of their relationships in various ways.”
If there’s interest in helping shelter pets, but people aren’t sure where or how to help, it’s easy. Go to your local shelter and donate – anything from money and gift cards to toys, food, treats, cleaning supplies or even your time. Shelters across the country are in need of volunteers as well as foster families or if there’s space in your home to adopt, lives and hearts can be changed forever!
About Blue Buffalo:
Blue Buffalo, the country’s most loved and trusted natural pet food, started with a promise made to a lovable Airedale named Blue who struggled with cancer, the #1 disease-related killer of dogs and cats. His family, the Bishops, wanted to feed him the best food possible, so they searched for food with high-quality ingredients, but decided to create something even better – natural pet food for dogs and cats with nutritious ingredients, real meat first, and some of the highest standards in the industry. Since Day 1, BLUE’s team of veterinarians and animal nutritionists have carefully selected high-quality, natural ingredients and upheld its True BLUE Promise to dog and cat pet parents – real meat as the first ingredient with NO chicken (or poultry) by-product meals, NO corn, wheat or soy, and NO artificial flavors or preservatives. The result is a portfolio of high-quality, natural food and treats that both dogs and cats love. This simple idea: “Love them like family. Feed them like family.” lives on today in every Blue Buffalo recipe.
Our founders’ promise to Blue wasn’t just to make the best pet food we could; it was also a promise to help dogs and cats in need. Over the years, that promise has evolved to more than $30 Million donated to fight against pet cancer and support for more than 9 million pet adoptions through partnerships with organizations like Helen Woodward Animal Center and Stray Rescue of St. Louis.
