Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey The staff of LDR Home Care LLC with the 528 pounds of pet food they brought to the Brown County Humane Society Thursday. Pictured from left to right: Matt Aiken, Nicki Brinkman, Carmen Wenner, Johanna Esser and John Aiken.

NEW ULM — For the fifth day of Christmas the Brown County Humane Society in New Ulm did not get five golden rings but over 500 pounds of pet food.

The food came from LDR Home Care LLC. The company learned the power of animals on Facebook when it made a post as part of a 12 Days of Christmas Facebook Campaign promising to donate one pound of food per person who commented with a picture of their pet.

The decision came from three employees: Executive Director Nicki Brinkman, Qualified Professional Carmen Wenner and Administrator Extraordinaire Johanna Esser. They expected a small response, as only about 40 people had liked the company’s new page.

“In the first hour we had 2,000 views on our Facebook post and we thought we might need a bailout of some sort,” Brinkman said. “We did not know how us three were going to foot the bill for all that food.”

Originally, the three had not told their boss about the specific donation, only the campaign.

“All they told us at first (was) ‘Hey, we are going to do some little giveaways here and there for the twelve days of Christmas,'” CEO Matt Aiken said. “Then all of a sudden they are like  ‘Hey uh, this one got bigger than what we thought.”

People mostly posted photos of their dogs and cats but there were also frogs, snakes, turkeys and a goat. The post eventually reached 427 comments, though only 360 qualified for the donation giveaway.

On top of that individuals contacted the company to make their own donations, raising the total food given to the humane society to 528 pounds. LDR donated 360 pounds of food, plus the Humane Society received 120 pounds of cat litter and six pounds of treats.

The 12 Days of Christmas is a promotional campaign for the company, as well as a way to give back to the community.

When it came to choosing the Humane Society, the reason was simple: “Rescued animals, I mean we are all pet lovers and it is a good cause,” Wenner said.

LDR’s festivities are not over with the pet food. For the last day of Christmas the company is starting a two-week clothing drive for Disabled American Veterans (DAV).The DAV gives to local thrift stores to sell. The profits go back to the DAV to help fund it.

“Our goal is to include all of our friends and family and collect as much clothing from them as (possible),” Brinkman said. “If they do not want to go drop it off, we will go pick it up and take it to the dropbox for them.”

Donors who take a photo of themselves giving on LDR’s Facebook page will be entered into a lottery.

The prizes are an article of clothing. Men have the chance to win a piece from J Longs in Mankato. Women could win an article from LuLaRoe.

The campaign started Friday, Dec 23. Donations can be brought to LDR at its location in Courtland (313 4th Street) or Farmers Insurance Agent Kristine Ruecker’s office (1618 S. Broadway, New Ulm).

Other locations for the DAV’s campaign can be found at davmn.org under to donate tab.