Those of you that spend your time volunteering with us at The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank know how hard we work to do everything that we possibly can to assist families and family pets facing hardship and crisis. Canidae All Natural Pet Foods & Dogswell are two of the vital engines that drive us forward, generously supplying us with the great food that helps save lives all across Oregon and SW Washington.
As the Executive Director of this 100% all volunteer public charity, I get to experience some wonderful things. It is an awesome privilege. And that privilege came again today in the names of Michelle, Kerry, Merlin and Doing.
April was another huge month for us with a record 313 families entering our home, seeking both solace and the lifesaving food that would keep their families together. That equates to some 32,000 quality meals donated for more than 1,200 family pets that had no food for their dinner; all in just a total of six hours time. And every single one of those families was treated with dignity, kindness, love and respect. But that’s not all that we do.
We also manage a detailed distribution network, donating a consistent measure of premium pet food to some two-dozen well respected community organizations assisting families in crisis, including St. Francis Dining Hall, NE Emergency Food Pantry, Potluck in the Park, Union Gospel Mission, FISH Emergency Services, King’s Cupboard, First Presbyterian of Oregon City, Salvation Army Moore Street, St. Marks Lutheran, St. Andrews Episcopal, Crossroads Coventry, University Park Adventist and many more. And when all combined we’re providing some 50,000 meals per month, reaching into every part of the community that we can.
And let’s not forget the single largest donation we’ve made to date; the seven tons of premium pet food that little tiny The Pongo Fund sent to the huge Oregon Food Bank for redistribution statewide, further helping in the fight to eliminate hunger. Yes, seven tons!
Still, some may wonder why we do this. The answer? We do this because families without much food are giving up the little that they have to keep their pets from starving. And that’s where we come in…we feed the family by feeding their pets.
Very quietly, in our customary and respectful way…we’ve now provided 500,000 quality meals for starving dog and cat friends. Saving these animals from being abandoned or surrendered simply because their families cannot afford to feed them. And keeping their families together in the process.
But even with all that, some folks still might not really understand why we put forth such effort. So here’s a reminder:
I received this urgent email from Michelle earlier today. We’re in Oregon, and she’s in Florida:
Hi
I live in South Florida but my sister is in the Portland area. She lives in Milwaukee. Last night, she told me she is completely out of cat food. She is out of food for herself too but she is more concerned about her two cats. I have a friend who is the Humane Educator at the Oregon Humane Society in Portland and I reached out to her. She said that they cannot help as they are too far away and she would need to find a way to get there. But she recommended we look into your program.
I am writing to ask if there is any way you can assist her. She is homebound and fighting off a bad illness right now so there is no way she can get to you. And even if I sent her money she can’t get out to get the food. Perhaps I can give you a donation instead. Please let me know. I have not told her about you because I don’t want to get her hopes up. “It’s not about loving animals; it’s about respect.”
I responded immediately, telling her we would help, and received back the following email:
That is so awesome. I sent her your e mail and hopefully she will get in touch. I do not think she has a phone. Her name is Kerry and she lives in Milwaukee, OR. She is homebound so she is there all the time. I hope you can help her. Yes she is on food stamps but she is relatively new there and I doubt she knows about all the social services. Thank you so much.
I quickly connected with Kerry and found she had only one small cup of food left for two hungry cats. After that, her beloved kitties Merlin & Doing would have no food at all. I asked her what would happen then, and she said her cats would eat noodles cooked in chicken broth. I suspect that might have been her own dinner that she would instead give to her kitties. And we just couldn’t let that happen.
Unfortunately, The Pongo Fund does not yet have a volunteer emergency response team in place to handle a situation like this; someone that could drop what they’re doing and immediately get food where it’s needed on a moment’s notice. We’ll work on that tomorrow. But for right now my only concern was getting food for this family. And in short order, thanks to a well crafted plan that came together perfectly, we had food in hand and were on the way to save this family. And beginning next week we have a volunteer that will make regular deliveries. How cool is that?
Kerry sent me an email after the food arrived.
After you read her email, please let others read it too. And please forward it to friends and friends of friends. I’m proud of what we did today, and want eveyone to remember how easy it is to make a difference for another, both two legged and four.
This is her email:
It’s here !!!!! What a great thing you did for Doing and Merlin… My sister will let the animal community nation wide know what a great service you have… The donations will come pouring in for you.. You have touched my heart and put a tear of gratitude down my cheeks…I have dedicated my life to working with and respecting and loving animals. This was a hard thing for me to do.. Asking for help is not easy.. You my dear one have made my day and my heart sing.
I hope that everyone got to share in some of the love and joy that I felt today; it was a very good day.
Larry Chusid, Executive Director, The Pongo Fund