Kathy Hynes, right, and Tammy Baker have been collecting pet food for the pantry since October.

ADAMS, Mass. — Santa was at the former Firehouse Cafe on Saturday greeting pet owners as volunteers gave out bags of food for pet owners in need. 

Kathy "Skippy" Hynes and Tammy Baker collected donations to start the pet food pantry in late October.

"I know owning pets and running a rescue how very expensive everything is, and I know that I'm fortunate enough to be able to have money to feed my animals and get what I need and run the rescue. But there's a lot of people that aren't so lucky, and the goal is to never have to surrender your pet because you can't afford to feed it," said Hynes, who runs a dog rescue.

Donations can be dropped off at Town Hall; the pantry will be open once a week for those who need pet food.

"So we're just trying to help, and even if it's only to get them over a hump, they come in once or twice, and then they don't come back for a few weeks," Hynes said. "That's fine, but it's the whole idea of trying to get them over that little hump, because it's giving somebody 10 pounds of food, maybe all it takes, and they can say, now, hey, I got some money for gas."

On Saturday, Hynes was open with help from the Adams Fire Department. Even Santa Claus showed up and greeted kids and took pictures.

Hynes hopes to keep the pantry going until February, and also plans to work with her veterinary team from South Deerfield to bring a low-cost vaccination clinic in the spring.

"Donations are greatly appreciated, and the goal is to keep this going through Valentine's Day, and then our long-term goal is to have our veterinary team do a low cost vaccination clinic late spring," she said.

Hynes is no stranger to helping animals as she runs her own rescue, Got Spots Etc. She donates food to rescues all over the area. She even recalled sending more than 6,000 pounds of feed for animals in North Carolina after it was devastated by floods last year.

A few firefighters brought on of the rescue trucks and had it lighted up out front to let people know they were there as well as helped bring food to some resident's cars. 

Fire Chief John Pansecchi thanked the firefighters for being there as well as Hynes.

"I think it's a great thing she is doing for the animals," he said.

Hynes will post on her Facebook page to let people know when she will be open with the pet food pantry. She said she will try to be open at the former Firehouse Cafe on Wednesdays for an hour but that might change.