Three cats and a dog and the woman who guides them. In the midst of tragedy and turmoil we get the calls that bring us back home, to why we Pongo. Because although we help as many as possible from afar, we are still here first to help our neighbors. Nearly 7pm, we answer the phone. The caller, a disabled senior bound to a wheelchair for 15 years, shared that she will run out of cat food tomorrow, and her dog food supply will run out the day after. She needs help, but just until the 3rd, that’s when her SSI check comes, a check that pays her bills so she and her animals can remain in the trailer park home they have known for years. But sometimes the money runs out before the days in the month do, and this is one of those times. Her small food stamp allotment has run out too. She said she will go anywhere for pet food if we can suggest it, her wheelchair will not keep her from feeding her animals. But we will go to her, because that is the right thing to do. As we asked her the questions to complete the paperwork for our Emergency Kibble Response Team, her voice began to break up. That’s when she knew that help would be on the way. She did not expect our help, she said thank you, thank you, thank you; she had no idea we existed until a local government hotline directed her to us just moments before she called. Asking for help is not her way, yet she did, and we answered. It was not what she expected, yet somehow her prayers have been answered.
For Calvin, Blue, Taryn and Oreo, help is on the way.
And this is why we Pongo.
#pongofund #portland #hunger #cat #love
(photo is stock photo and not woman in story)