She has 17 cats. But no food to feed them. Some feral, some not. All are loved. Many are seniors. Working with her neighbors in their small town they got them spayed and neutered. But then her husband lost his job and that meant the end of the little bit of money they had. These could be your parents or grandparents or neighbors.

And before I could say anything else she laughed a big laugh and said the worst part is that even though they were poor, they still had more than any of their neighbors.

She said where she lives there is little help available for people and none for the animals. Just like in a lot of small towns. So she wondered if Pongo could suggest anyone in a nearby town that could help.

Anything, she said, would be something.

And then her husband got on the phone and said he would work to pay for the food if that would help. And through his rough and labored breathing I could tell that this older man was not well yet here he was offering to do whatever he could to help. Because that’s the kind of man he was.

We found a way to get the food there. The Kibble Courier that delivered the food said the situation was not a good one and this family needed far more than just cat food.

Even though they had so little of everything. Yet that’s all they asked for.

And then our Kibble Courier said they invited her in for lunch.

This happened a while ago but it stayed with me. And since then the Kibble Courier has returned a couple more times with more food and some other things too.

Recently a Pongo Friend reached out and said she wanted to do something to help someone else. I’ll call her Joy. And she thought Easter would be the right time. She said that while everyone else is focused on the holiday and family gatherings, she wanted to focus on helping someone that had no one else.

Her request hit me because I knew just what she meant. And she asked if there was someone that needed some extra help and if she could donate money for them and their pets?

I knew just what she wanted. She wanted to help someone because that in turn would help her too. Because helping others is the greatest gift.

No questions. No judgment. Just doing something for someone else. For someone less fortunate than ourselves. And the feeling of goodness that comes from that. That’s what she wanted.

Because isn’t that really what we all want?

So she wanted to take the money she would have spent on less important things and instead have that buy things to bring joy to others. And I thought of our friends with the 17 cats.

How they needed so much yet asked for so little. Because they knew that others had it worse.

So here was the perfect opportunity. I told Joy about this family and she said yes, she wanted to donate money to help them. She asked me how much she should donate. And I didn’t answer.

Because I had another idea. And this is what we did instead.

And right about now Joy should be arriving at the doorway of a family in a small town. They think they’re getting cat food.

But instead she will bring a packed carload of things desperately needed by a family too proud to ask for help. There’s more food than I can describe. And some extra-special items too. Things you and I may take for granted but special things nonetheless.

Like band-aids. Hand lotion. Batteries. Lip balm. New reading glasses and a giant magnifying glass. Epsom salts. Toilet paper. Toothpaste. Large sized jigsaw puzzles. Pens and paper and a little flowered journal. A solid cane. Compression bandages for swollen ankles. Salt. Pepper. Cinnamon.

And a really nice set of jarred spices because this woman with so little really loves to make soup.

The car will be jammed. Including some gift cards for the things we forgot. And yes, there is cat food too.

But aside from the worldly goods and even more important, she will also deliver love. And hope. Joy will deliver Joy.

They will become fast friends. They will share lunch and laughter. And they will share thanks. Thanking each other for the gifts they received this day. The gifts of each other.

On this day. The day before Easter, 2015. It’s not what we always do. But it’s what we did today. And we did it with Joy.

And this is why we Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. Bringing Joy. thepongofund.org