In Memory of Karen Clark. We’re heartbroken, it came out of the blue, we lost one of our own today. Karen filled the room with the heart of 100, she overflowed with a rare and powerful zest for life. Pick your busiest day and chances are Karen was busier. Editing the condo newsletter, organizing the next potluck dinner, shopping for silly little things to make people smile, visiting with her Mom, wine tasting, cookie baking, flower arranging, lunching with friends, growing the best garden bounty ever, managing another home improvement project. And most importantly, showering her kitties with love. Even with that chaotic schedule she still managed to Pongo, missing only four days in seven years. Today was one of those days.

Karen was a sparkplug, a human Bedazzler, she was confetti. She lived life and she lived it to the fullest. With a laugh that laughed the way laughter was meant to be laughed. An absolutely beautiful Human inside and out. Her smile was the first smile you’d see when you came to The Pongo Fund; it was just her way. And when she asked how you were doing, she really meant it. Before you knew it you were feeling better, listening to one of her stories that could weave together moments straight out of Seinfeld. That was Karen. Love and Joy and Hope and Happiness. And always putting others first.

The time it was pouring rain and there’s Karen zipping out the door in her motorized wheelchair, a plastic bag over her head and a big bag of dog food slung across her lap. Several minutes later she came zipping back in and we asked what in the world was she doing? She said someone needed help getting the food to their car, so she helped them. Karen, in her wheelchair, in the rain, hauling dog food to someone’s car, to help them.

Sometimes people came to The Pongo Fund just to see Karen, even when they didn’t need food. She had a fan club that way, her groupies, her Karenettes. One time I joked that maybe she should print some business cards with her name and phone number, and she could give them out to people who needed to talk. She scoffed and laughed, but a few minutes later she said maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. Because even she knew that sparkles and rainbows ran through her veins, and like Mary Tyler Moore, she could take a nothing day and make it all seem worthwhile.

It was just a couple hours before we opened today that we learned Karen was gone. And I speak for all of us at The Pongo Fund that we’re still numb now. We had a job to do and through tears we did it, just as Karen would insist we do. It hurt to not see her in her usual place at Distribution; instead, in her place was her nametag and a bouquet of flowers.

Karen is survived by a loving family and a large group of friends who were like family. And also by the loves of her life, Rain and Powell, her two Kitty Cat Clarks. We all loved this woman to the moon and back, and the best part was, she knew that. And she loved us too.

In memory of Karen Clark. Always loved, Always remembered.

And Forever a Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org

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