St. Pete man honors beloved dog by creating free roadside pet food pantry

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - When Mark James lost his beloved dog, Hank, to cancer, he decided to honor him by giving back to pets in need. 

"Hank would bark at anything. Hank would bark at mosquitoes, he would bark if the wind blew," said owner, Mark James.

Hank was a rescue dog.  James says he was a quiet puppy, who grew up into a chatty and moody mutt who was constantly by his side.

Last October, James and his wife were crushed to learn their pooch had a tumor on his spleen.  Hank was 8-years old.

"I needed a way to honor him," Mark said.

The tribute he came up was inspired by little free library stands, and it has a very fitting name, Hank’s Bark Box.  

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Sitting outside Mark’s West St. Petersburg home, it is stocked with both wet and dry foods for cats and dogs.  Helping people who have fallen on hard times feed their fur babies while keeping more money in their pockets.

"There are no rules. If you need pet food, show up and help yourself 24/7, seven days a week," James explained. 

Over the last four months, the free pet food pantry has handed out almost two tons of kibble, and more than 3,200 cans of wet food. People stop by at all hours, so James even added lights for late-night visitors.

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"It's taken on a life of its own. There's just no doubt about it. I didn't know there would be that much of a need," said James.

Hank’s Bark Box has also shown the community's huge heart.  The pantry is almost completely running off donations at this point.  Mark bought a steel cabinet to store all the food, and it is packed.

For him, it is the messages from strangers that make the effort worthwhile.

"When you go out there and fill the box and there's a note in there that says, look, I had to come by and get some food, thank you very much, it was a huge help. I'll keep packing it every day, you know, every day," James explained.