He said we’d helped him many times back in the day. Then he went back to work and got on his feet again. He saw me on the street one afternoon and went out of his way to say hello. He told me that we had saved his dog’s life. And that meant we saved his life too.

I thanked him for telling me that. And then he looked at his feet and looked back at me and again looked at his feet and without looking up he began to speak. He said he owed me something. And then he said he owed me a thank you.

He said every time he came to The Pongo Fund several of our volunteers greeted him heartily. They asked how he was doing. And they also asked how his dog was doing. And that meant something.

He said he used to get pretty excited as he got close to our building because he knew our volunteers would quickly greet him with a smile and a Good Morning. And he said while that may not seem like much to most people, to him it was.

Because he said those words were likely the first words anyone had spoken to him that day. And he said hearing some words directed toward him, words with kindness and compassion, made him feel human again.

Because he said when you’re homeless you tend to look pretty ragged after sleeping on the sidewalk all night. And a lot of people don’t want to talk to people that look ragged. So he got ignored a lot.

But he said at The Pongo Fund, when our volunteers greeted him, when they smiled at him, when they talked to him, he knew they really were talking to him. With meaning.

Then he described some of the Pongo people that greeted him. The ones he said that made him feel special. It was like he was talking about some of the most important people in his life.

And at that point I was beaming. Because each person he described is someone I know. Each one representing the Best of the Best that Pongo has to offer.

And even though I was deep in conversation with this man, I still didn’t know where the conversation was going. But he searched for his words so carefully that I became lost in the moment.

And then it happened. He said what he needed to say.

He said he felt guilty because we made him feel so good.

This man who was now drenched in tears telling me how badly he felt because we had made him feel so good.

In tears because he felt he had not thanked us enough.

He said we gave him great food. Food that meant the difference every single day. He said there were times we gave him people food too. And he described some of those times.

He told me that The Pongo Fund saved his life because we saved his dog’s life.

And there he stood with tears raining out of his eyes asking me how you thank someone for saving their life?

I told him he just did.

And the dog? The dog we helped feed? He was now 12 years old and doing great.

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou

Saving lives. Two legged and four.

And this is why we Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org

(Photo is stock image with credit to Kirsten Starcher and used for symbolic reference only)

Scooby Swim. The picture is blurry but the eyes and smile are bright and clear. If I was ever on a swimming relay team I know who I’d want anchoring the last leg. This guy. Because he’s a rocket!

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. Swim. thepongofund.org

Von is a Pongo Dog. One of the tens of thousands of animals that The Pongo Fund has helped. Keeping them safe and well fed and at home with their families. And most importantly, keeping them out of the shelters and free of shelter danger.

“Compassion counts above all else — more than intelligence, wealth, power or prominence. Those who have it, and extend it to all living beings, fully understand its potential to single-handedly change the world.” ~ Brennan Browne

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org

They were homeless these past seven months, the parents, kids and their beloved dog. Finally everything came together and just this month they found temporary housing. Then a bad situation turned worse when her husband beat her up and now he’s in jail. Leaving this Mom with kids and a dog in desperate need of help.

These are the moments that catch me off guard. The moments that make me stop and say whoa.

The calls and the emails and the letters and the personal conversationswhen people tell me the difference The Pongo Fund has made. And then here comes another call for help, another single moment in time where someone says something that makes it seem new all over again. Like this:

Scooby channels both Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, happily embracing all concepts and cultures including both Eastern and Western medicine. And it’s clearly working well for this sweet and spiritual guy considering he’s almost 21 years-old.

He is kind and balanced and centered and has undoubtedly found his Chi. He helps me find my Chi too. Exactly why I aspire to be more like Scooby. I really do.

His relaxed and smiling face came during his recent acupuncture treatment. Four needles to start, more next time. A reminder that maybe we all need to slow down and go to acupuncture. Or at least, maybe we all just need to slow down and breathe.

When the stomach hurts so much that a bowl of hope is more important than a bowl of food. What then? When the hunger is greater than what a bag of kibble can fix. How do we help then? Because going to the store and buying a bag of hope just isn’t an easy thing to do.

Caring and nurturing and loving and doing every single thing possible and still it’s not enough. Because sometimes there just isn’t an easy answer. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

When she said she needed food, that sentence alone, was a good thing. Because The Pongo Fund has food. But the other words were less good. Because those words shared both a broken heart and a broken spirit.

It’s a Sunny Saturday in Scoobyville with Scooby’s Summer Breakfast, James Beard style. Fresh. Blueberries. Raspberries. Shitakes. Kale. Bananas. Romaine. Broccoli. Carrots. Tomato. Watermelon. Cantaloupe.

Breakfast finished. Raspberries were today’s surprise ingredient. First walk of the day in the books. A nap will arrive shortly. But for now, for this single moment in time, a quiet moment to pause. To reflect. To sit. To sniff. To smell. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. He’ll celebrate his 21st birthday in a few weeks and I think he’s got it down good.

Greeting the day Scooby Style and getting ready for French Fry Friday which will follow just a bit later.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. Stop and Smell. thepongofund.org

From one year ago. She was feeding cans and bottles into the mouth of the bottle return machine. She was tan with the patina of someone that spent a lot of time outdoors. Not a tropical tan. A working tan.

And based on the number of bottles she was returning it looked as if she took this work seriously. It might have even been her main source of income.

I asked her if she would let me include my empty bottles in her bottle cart. I had no more than a dollar’s worth at best. But I wanted to share them with her because I believed she could use that dollar more than I could.

I said it would be a huge favor to me if she would let me do that. But I first waited for her to say it was ok. Because I didn’t want her to think I was just leaving my empty bottles for her to deal with.

She turned around and looked me in the eye and said yes. She then said she would come inside and give me the money for the bottles. But I told her she could keep the redemption value. And then she said thank you.

But she said thank you so warmly that it caught my attention. It was genuine. She said it in a way that made me feel like I had done something special. But I had not, of course. I had simply added a few empty bottles to her cart.

Her thank you stayed on my mind while I shopped. Her taking the extra moment to turn around and look me in the eye and offer that thank you seemed far more valuable to me than the few bottles I had given her.

I was surprised to see her still outside when I left the store. I saw her looking at me, watching me as I walked toward my car. But for some reason it felt like her eyes were pulling at me.

And when I looked again she was standing next to me. I didn’t have a clue what she might say.

So I said the first words. I said “thank you for redeeming my bottles for me. It was really kind of you to do that.” She smiled, and then reached her hand out. She said “this is for you” and she handed me some folded up bills.

I reminded her that the money from my bottles was for her, that she did not need to give it back to me. She said she knew that. And I stood there baffled because she had just handed me an amount of money worth far more than the value of my few bottles.

And then she said the money was from her dog.

She went on to tell me that she recognized me from the several times I had come to her homeless camp to deliver dog food.

And that when she saw me today, wearing my Pongo shirt, she knew I was the same guy that had helped her and her friends many times before.

She told me she was now in housing and no longer homeless. That she had fought her way back from the bad times. And I was glad to hear that, because one day I found the camp was gone and I never knew what happened. And it got even better when she told me her dog was doing well too.

But she said that buying good dog food was expensive and no matter how hard she tried, there were some times that she could not afford it. She didn’t say it in a way that said she wanted me to give her more dog food. She said it in a way that told me good dog food was important to her. Really important.

So during those couple of times each month when money was extra short, she said she would go to one of the food pantries that gives out dog food from The Pongo Fund. And she thanked me for having that food there for her and her dog whenever they needed it.

And then she said “because without my dog…” but her words just trailed off and the sentence was never completed. But I knew what she meant. We all know what she meant.

The money was still in my hand. I hadn’t even opened it up for the last several moments as she told me her story. My hand and I were both frozen in time as she spoke.

And I knew that no matter how much I wanted her to keep her money it was going to stay in my hand and be put to work helping others in need. Because that was exactly what she wanted.

I thanked her again and we went our separate ways. Several minutes went by before I realized that my hand was still clenched tight around those folded up bills. And I drove on with those bills still there.

My hand was getting numb but I didn’t want to open it. I wanted to hold that moment as long as I could.

It was $14. I counted it while stopped at a red light. And even though I knew it was $14 I just kept counting it. It felt like so much more.

And then I pulled over to the curb and reached into my own pocket and pulled out $14. I added my $14 to her $14. I held all of it in my hand. Now it was $28.

A couple of friends each gave $14 more. Now it was $56. One of their friends gave $14. Now it was $70.

The $14 Club wasn’t meant to be a club. It just happened. It happened because a woman wanted to pay it back while paying it forward. Maybe you’d like to do it too? To give $14?

Because how kind it would be to give $14 to honor this woman who pays her way by returning the bottles that others leave behind. She works hard. She works proud. And she loves her dog.

The best part?

It may very well be the best $14 any of us have ever given. The donation link is here: https://www.thepongofund.org/contact/donation-page/

$14.

Just knowing that you shared your time to read this story is meaningful to me. And I thank you.

And this is why we Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org

She came running over and dropped to her knees and said “Oh Scooby, I Love You.” It caught us both by surprise. The whole while that she’s petting him, she’s totally ignoring me. In that moment, I wasn’t even there.

She told Scooby he was the most special and handsome dog ever and that he looked just like George Clooney. And then she found one of his sweet spots and he went down and just took those belly rubs fast as she could deliver them. And then, in a moment on top of a crazy moment, she proposed to him. For reals.

She asked Scooby to marry her.

She told him that in this day and age anyone can marry anyone and I quickly handed her one of Scooby’s special treats and she gave it to him and he ate it and she kissed him and he kissed her and that was that.

In other words, I think they’re engaged. Or course you’re all invited. That is, if we ever see her again.

She then sang him an early Happy Birthday song because she knew he turns 21 in a few weeks. And then she left with the biggest smile on her face, telling us she’ll see us on Facebook.

I loved that moment. And she’s right. I think Scooby looks like George Clooney too.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show​, we know you love George Clooney. So if you’re out there we know you’d love Scooby too.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. He’s Engaged! thepongofund.org