Five years, five months and 17 days ago. That’s when The Pongo Fund opened our doors for the first time. A woman named Pam was the first guest to receive food that day. And today we’ll be there doing it again. But something else will happen too.

Something special.

But back to that first day. Pam and her husband had lost good paying jobs and were facing foreclosure. They’d already given up so much. But giving up their pets Fuzzy the dog and Spaghetti the cat, pets they had adopted years earlier from a local shelter, was even more frightening.

And that’s what brought them to our door. To stand in line for free pet food. High-quality pet food. No corn. No soy. No wheat.

A few minutes later while loading large bags of dog and cat food into the trunk of her car, Pam cried tears of happiness. Then she cried some more when she learned she could come back as often as needed.

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” – Mother Teresa

But today it will be a little bit different. We’ll mark a small milestone. There will be no party. No balloons or confetti.

Just a moment of quiet reflection that we are doing something good. Something that you and me and each and every one of us that has come together to keep The Pongo Fund moving forward deserves to be proud of.

Today we will provide our 8,000,000th meal.

Yes. 8,000,000!

That’s 8,000,000 high-quality meals for hungry family pets. Pets that got to stay in their homes and not face danger in crowded shelters.

Hungry pets that belong to hungry people. People that often are too proud to ask for help themselves. But they will do anything they can for their pets.

Because those animals might be the only friend they have left.

What began in the back of a Chevy Trailblazer a few years ago has blossomed into Oregon’s only full time charity fighting animal hunger. We are a vital part of the fight against hunger. Just ask any of the tens of thousands of people and pets that we’ve helped.

People that love their pets just like you do. People that might even be your friends. Your neighbor. Your grandmother. Proud people. People struggling to keep both themselves and their animals fed.

Maybe even you.

So sometime today you will feel a little tingle. That will be 8,000,000. We won’t announce it. But you’ll know when it happens. Because you’re that kind of person.

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every heart, there is the power to do it.”—Marianne Williamson

Giving a chance to animals that might not otherwise have a chance and giving hope to families with little else to be hopeful for. Because sometimes a simple bowl of kibble is the force that both keeps a family together and saves the lives of the animals they love.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Dr. Seuss

The Pongo Fund. And you. Caring a whole awful lot.

8,000,000 times and counting.

And this is why we Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. Always With Gratitude. thepongofund.org