The first clients of The Pongo Fund Emergency Pet Food Bank began lining up before 9am yesterday. Quite a testament to the good work that we do, particularly considering that we do not open until noon. Meaning a three hour wait in the cold just so they could get the food needed to keep their animal family fed.
Yet each of these individuals says it’s worth it. But why?
Because they’re treated with courtesy and respect. And when they go home, they’re doing so armed with an abundance of high-quality Canidae Pet Food. Meaning that their dog and cat family will get a really good dinner, and lots more. And that means everything. In a fast-paced 2.5 hours, we provided food for the family pets of more than 161 families.
Our days are filled with many special moments; poignant, emotional, and sometimes both happy and heartbreaking. But we always hope for the best, and work hard to bring the best to everyone that we meet.
One of the most special moments occurred with a gentleman that had not been to see us since last October. He said that he’d been working, and had been able to buy the great Canidae food we’d provided in the past. But his job ended and once again he needed help.
He said that being able to come back to us for help five months later was the very best part of his day, his week and his month. He said he didn’t know what he would have done without us. And then the compliments just started flowing. He said that we made him feel like an old friend, yet we hardly knew him. And he said that everywhere he looked, he saw other folks just like him being treated like Rock Stars!
And that even though it was cold and wet outside, we made him feel like it was warm and sunny.
He shook my hand and said “thank you,” and stood there frozen for a moment. And then he began to cry. He started to say something else, but the words would not come. He apologized. But the truth is that I heard everything he wanted to say, even though he couldn’t say it. His eyes spoke volumes and that was more than sufficient.
The Pongo Fund; keeping pets and their people together is what we do.
Sit. Stay. Eat. Live.
www.thepongofund.org