It was about two years ago. We helped Jerry, Eileen and Sammy. They thanked us many times. Real thanks. Sincere thanks. And that was enough. But now they thanked us again. A sweet note with $20 from each one of them.

We know their times have not really improved. But it was time, as they said, to thank us again so that another family could be helped.

A look back to helping Jerry, Eileen and Sammy. Proud but hungry. But never complaining.

Gray days are even grayer when you have no money for life’s basics. Like food. Even if you had the money, no car means a bus ride. And with the nearest grocery store a few miles and two bus transfers away, it’s not an easy trip when your bad leg is acting up. So what do you do?

Stay home and turn on the heat and curl up with a good book and try to forget your hunger? But there is no heat. Watch TV? There is no TV.

This is the situation faced by Jerry and Eileen, two 60 somethings that said they remember better days. And even the worst of them was better than what they’re facing now. Their story is not unique. But for them it is. Both are college graduates, hampered by a combination of work, personal, family, health and other life issues that remind us nothing is guaranteed.

And counting on their adult son turned out to be a big mistake. “Huge mistake,” Eileen said. “Huge.” Supporting him for too long meant little left for them, but she said they’d likely do it again. “He’s our son. What do we tell him? Leave?” Followed by a knowing look between Jerry and Eileen that said maybe they wish they had. Obviously there was far more to the story but that was not the story we were there for.

Because what The Pongo Fund Emergency Kibble Response Team needed to focus on was Sammy, a 12 year-old mix of terrier, boxer, poodle, labrador, golden retriever, pit bull and every other dog imaginable. The point is no one knows for sure what breed Sammy is. But he’s family.

They ran out of food for Sammy when a payday for a week of hard work did not come. But like many they did not want to ask for help because so many others have it far worse. So they decided to wait it out. To all eat less together for a few days. “We can all stand to lose a little weight,” Eileen said with raspy chuckle compliments of a nasty cold.

But then the next payday did not arrive as promised either. Meaning they needed to ask for help now, that they could wait no longer. Luckily their local food pantry is one of the many food pantries that The Pongo Fund keeps supplied with dog and cat food. But Sammy needed a special diet due to nasty allergies so they called us.

The good news is that we had exactly what Sammy needed. It was a brand new bag of food that one of our Pongo Friends had just donated a few days earlier. A bag of food that was a kind of food we rarely have. And when the donor gave it to us, she said it was the very same food that her dog ate. And that her dog, for his birthday, had decided to donate a bag to The Pongo Fund instead of getting a bag of treats for himself. Dogs donating food for other dogs that have none. Her dog also donated a bag of birthday cat food too. Because he loves the kitties. How cool is that?

And as life so often does, it brought together a series of random moments. Both broken-hearted and heart-healing, blending them together into one beautiful moment that meant Sammy got a big bag of the exact food he needed. And that meant he would eat well for the entire month. No matter what, Sammy had food. And Jerry and Eileen said that knowing Sammy had food made them feel like they had food too. We knew what they meant. That their hearts were full. But we knew their stomachs were still empty.

Mother Teresa said “If you cannot feed 100, then feed just one.” But in this case it was just three. So our Emergency Kibble Response Team did what they knew needed to be done.

It was the very thing they’ve done before. They went shopping. Digging into their own pockets to pay the bill that would mean far more than those dollars could ever mean being spent on something else.

Even picking up a small scented candle with a fragrance that Eileen had casually mentioned always brought her good memories from when she was a child. And for Jerry a copy of Sports Illustrated. He’s a huge college football fan and his well-worn Ducks shirt told us he might have gone to U of O. But without TV he doesn’t get to watch any games so he tries to keep up by reading magazines at the library. Now he had the current issue. And a bag of his favorite peanuts.

Being on the Emergency Kibble Response Team is not always easy. We never know what we will find. On the best of days we find hope, love and gratitude. On the best of days we find Jerry, Eileen and Sammy. Fiercely proud and still smiling despite some tough times.

Acts of kindness, however small – a smile, a compliment, a helping hand – plant seeds of hope, love, and beauty. For Jerry, Eileen and Sammy, we hope their garden blooms.

And this is why we Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org