Beckstoffers Honored as Jameson Humane’s Pet Pantry Reopens
By Dave Stoneberg
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Local and state officials honored a well-known Napa Valley couple for their generosity at the reopening of the Andy & Betty Beckstoffer Community Pet Pantry on Thursday, June 13, at Napa’s CrossWalk Community Church.
Not only humans honored the Beckstoffers, whose donation pays for the eponymous pet pantry run by Jameson Humane, but dogs, too, honored the couple. Both Brody, a male mini husky and Venus, a female golden retriever, had no choice but to wait while people talked, plaques were presented and photos were taken. Finally, the Beckstoffers, along with Venus’ owner, Charlotte Chiolero of American Canyon, got down to business. Each grabbed a plastic bag of dog kibble and handed it out to the dogs.
As a puppy — he’s 8 ½ months old — it was clearly hard for Brody to wait, even though owner Susan Fickinger of Calistoga had him well under control. This gorgeous little boy even sat and smiled for the camera.
The community pet pantry provides free food for both dogs and cats and is open from 4 to 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at CrossWalk Community Church in Napa.
The Beckstoffers’ donation is their latest support of Jameson Humane in its efforts to help animals, both companions and farm, stay with their owners at home rather than in a shelter. Andy Beckstoffer said he first was involved with Jameson Humane during the wildland fires in Lake County in September 2015.
As a company, “we are big in Lake County, and so I knew what they were doing for the horses up there,” Beckstoffer said. “So we got involved with Jameson Humane, and we just continue to be involved through what they do.”
He added that they both attend and donate to Jameson Humane’s annual fundraiser, WineaPAWlooza, which begins Friday, June 21, and continues Saturday, June 22.
“We just support them everywhere we can,” he said. “It’s one of the wonderful things about Napa County that you won’t find in many other counties. We have lots of nonprofits doing lots of good things for people, but they (Jameson Humane) take care of the animals.”
Beckstoffer Properties own some 4,000 acres of vineyards in Napa, Mendocino and the Red Hills AVA of Lake County, according to their website. In Napa, they own historic vineyards, including To Kalon, Dr. Crane and others; in the Red Hills AVA, they own 1,500 acres of vineyards. The AVA was established in 2004 and is made up of 3,250 acres of vineyards.
Someone asked Beckstoffer why animals matter so much.
“We’ve had kids and animals since I can remember,” he said. “They’re part of the family. We get up in the morning, we have cats, we have squirrels, and we have birds and we have buzzards. We have turkeys now, too. We’ve got them all. It’s country living.”
After the Lake County wildfires and subsequent evacuations, Brenda Burke, director of community engagement for Jameson Humane, said their eyes were opened to a need in “our own backyard with how a lot of senior citizens struggle who have animals. A lot of them were feeding their own food to their pets so they didn’t have the big expense of buying pet food for their animals. If we didn’t have food accessible for free, many people are faced with a choice of either surrendering their animals or they feed them their own food and they go hungry.”
Then came the pandemic and as the shutdowns continued, Jameson Humane provided 6,000 pounds of food every week.
“In 2020, we decided it was really important to have a stable, permanent location so that people could count on food in one place,” Burke said. “They knew where to get it and knew it was available all the time. We started the pet pantry, which was the first and only community pet pantry in Napa County.”
“Sometimes people struggle with the means not only to feed themselves but to feed their pets and take care of their pets,” Napa ayor Scott Sedgley said. “I feel as a community if we could establish some way to do that, it would be good.”
He called the pet pantry a fabulous program, and thanked the Beckstoffers for keeping it going.
“We recognize what our dogs and our cats and all our pets do for us as human beings,” Sedgley said. There’s that innate connection.”
CrossWalk Community Church has offered a food pantry to Napans for nearly 30 years. It works with the city to stock the pantries of people moving into housing, provides food for those who cannot access Napa’s Food Bank and clients with emergency needs. Additionally, it works with other Napa churches to provide 60 bags of food once a month for those who are homeless. Its pastor is Peter Shaw.
Jameson Humane is a no-kill rescue and sanctuary in Napa Valley for homeless companion and farm animals. Jameson founder Monica Stevens thanked the Beckstoffers.
“They are not only stewards of the land, they are stewards of the animals, stewards of the humans,” Stevens said. “They’ve allowed us to do so much in our 10 years. And this is just another remarkable way they support our great community.”
She added, “Without your help, we would not be feeding thousands of animals every year. They need it and our community needs it. I always say animals don’t know a ZIP code, so it doesn’t matter if you’re from Napa, Lake, Solano or Sonoma County, if you need food, we have it for you. We don’t want any animal to go hungry, and we don’t want any animal to be surrendered to the shelter because folks can’t afford food.”
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Dave Stoneberg is an editor and journalist who has worked for newspapers in both Lake and Napa counties.
What a great thing for our Napa Valley communities and pets! I was aware of the Jameson Humane organization, but was not aware of the Beckstoffer Pet Pantry.
I must reveal a not-so-secret secret about mini-husky Brody - I don't know his exact age, but he is my neighbor (locally). I met him way before COVID, so he is not the eight and a half month old puppy he appears to be. His secret fountain of youth must come from his miniature DNA. Ha! Live long Brody and keep smiling.