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Thanksgiving for John and his Kitties, 2013

Happy ThanksgivingOn Thanksgiving Day 20 Pongo volunteers came together to pack kibble during our Special Edition Thanksgiving Day Kibble Pack Event. And 10 of them were new volunteers. Each one of us sharing a desire to give back to those less fortunate on this day of thanks.  Working as a team, together we packed more than 2,000 lbs of kibble; some of which became Thanksgiving dinner for many hungry animals. Making the difference between going to bed with a full tummy instead of going to bed with an empty one.

Adding to our gratitude was when John stopped by to get food for his seven kitties. John has fallen on some very tough times and currently lives with his 80 year-old mother. Both are battling severe health problems. But when their neighbor moved away and left their five cats behind, John immediately stepped up and adopted them too. Although he could barely afford to keep his own family fed, he was not going to let these five kitties go hungry. But as he explained, feeding seven kitties is a lot more expensive than feeding just two, so he asked for our help. Not only did we send him home with cat food, but we also sent him home with Thanksgiving Dinner and fresh pumpkin pie for dessert. That way his entire family could eat together.

In every community, there is work to be done. In every heart, there is the power to do it. Helping feed seven kitties, and helping feed John on his Mom on this Thanksgiving Day.  These are the times that make us thankful. And this is why we Pongo.

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Thanksgiving 2013

Homeless 1Remember that others are less fortunate. Not just today but everyday. Count your blessings, for you have more than most to be thankful for. And if you have a pet that loves you, rejoice and be grateful. Because you are definitely one of the luckiest ones. Wishing you a warm and meaningful Thanksgiving, from all of us at The Pongo Fund.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live.

 

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This Brave Woman

She said he hit her in a way that hurt her dignity more than it hurt her physically. She remained silent and kept it a secret. But as soon as her kids finished college she knew that it was time for her and her secrets to leave. They divorced quickly and quietly. She left fast and she left without much money because there wasn’t much there to begin with. Leaving intact was more valuable than anything the dollars could ever buy. She said her and her dog were free.

She learned about The Pongo Fund shortly after she got to Portland, when a local food pantry gave her a bag of dog food with Pongo’s name on it. But she didn’t know what that meant.

Shortly thereafter she met with her caseworker for the first time. She explained that she could still feed herself thanks to a tiny bit of money, but she needed help feeding her dog. She was sure her caseworker would laugh at her when she told the story, but she didn’t. Instead, she said the caseworker told her Pongo could help. She said she didn’t know what that meant, but the caseworker wrote a telephone number on a referral slip and said “Just call Pongo.” Then she remembered the earlier bag of food that said Pongo. And she called.

And that brought her to our doorway for the first time. With her dog in the car for moral support she said she took her place in line that morning surrounded by 100 other faces. She left us that day with food, treats and the memory of many different Pongo volunteers who had greeted her with big smiles and made her feel good.

This brave woman told me these things when our paths randomly crossed in the park. She stopped to talk only because she saw my Pongo shirt. She began by saying “Pongo. I know Pongo. Do you know Pongo?” And I said yes, I know Pongo too. She didn’t know who I was specifically; she just began to talk with me because my shirt said Pongo. And I guess that made me a friend.

We talked for several minutes. She spoke with both her words and her eyes. But she had no idea why this was so meaningful to me. She had no idea that I was part of The Pongo Fund.

She said she returned to Pongo a few more times because she struggled to find work and could not afford dog food. Even though she was prepared to go hungry herself so her dog did not. And that every time she left, she said she felt even better than when she had gotten there. And she’s telling me these things not realizing that I know exactly what she means.

When she began working she paid us back by buying some bags of dog food at a local store pet food drive last December. She said that it was important for both her and her dog to pay it forward as someone else had done for them.

As the conversation wound down I asked about her dog. She said that they had walked earlier, and that her dog friend was now at home napping. And it was her turn to go out and walk. As she turned to leave she apologized, saying she was not sure why she told me everything she did. And then she asked if we’d met somewhere before, she had a funny feeling that we had.

I told her that I too relied on The Pongo Fund to help me and we might have seen each other there sometime. Because the truth is, The Pongo Fund does help me. It helps all of us, no matter why we’re there. Be it to get food or be it to volunteer to help those getting food. Because at times like that, we are all Pongo.

My name is Larry Chusid, and I founded The Pongo Fund. Helping others is a great feeling. And this is why we Pongo.

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In Memory of Renee Radziwon-Chapman

Renee RadziwonMy friend Renee Radziwon-Chapman died a few days ago. She died doing what she loved. Caring for her last-chance wildcats at Wild Cat Haven Sanctuary when tragically one of those very cats took her life. These are the big beautiful cats that we rarely get to see in person because they typically live their lives in the wild.

But these wild animals at Wild Cat Haven Sanctuary were there only because they had been rescued after being bred for illegal profit or captured and abused and neglected by others. Majestic animals and spirits of the wild that had become victims to pain and suffering caused by people. The worst kind. But things changed for the better for these cats when they met Renee.

Make no mistake, this was a tragic accident. A life has been lost. Made even worse because the life that was lost was caused by one of the very animals that trusted her. One of the very cougars that Renee loved.  A cougar that did something we will never really know the details of. Because no one else was there. Just Renee and her cats.

Speculation will abound. Rumors. Innuendo. Barbed words will be fired back and forth. Words and accusations that will be painful. And none of that is what Renee would have wanted. Because none of that will help bring her back and none of that will help care for her cats. This is a time to grieve. A time to mourn.

And it is also a time to remember the bright burst of life that Renee was. She was a woman, a daughter, a wife and a new mother truly loved by numbers too many to count, loved by those both two-legged and four. She was a true lover of the animals.

I had just shared an evening of dinner and laughter with Renee a few weeks ago, listening to her gush about her six-month old daughter Noa. A daughter that will someday learn what a tremendous mom she had.

But for now I grieve. I grieve for all that knew Renee and for all that loved her. And I grieve for the big cats too, for they have also lost their dear friend.

A fund has been set up by the friends of Renee Radziwon-Chapman to provide support for her daughter Noa. All donations will go directly towards ensuring Noa can follow her dreams much like her mother did.

If you would like to honor and remember Renee, this would be a wonderful way to do so. http://www.gofundme.com/57av7o

My name is Larry Chusid and I founded The Pongo Fund. And Renee Radziwon-Chapman was my friend.

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Five Million

Von and Thomas Receive 5,000,000th Meal _MG_6806FIVE MILLION! That’s how many meals The Pongo Fund has provided for starving family pets since we began four years ago. 5,000,000! That’s 5,000,000 meals for pets that were going hungry when their families were temporarily unable to keep them fed. Not unloved. Just hungry.

But more importantly is that each and every one of those meals meant an animal went to bed with a tummy filled with food instead of a tummy filled with emptiness. An animal that got to stay at home with their family and did not end up facing life in an overcrowded shelter. That’s what 5,000,000 means for The Pongo Fund.

Five million nutritious meals served one at a time. 5,000,000 meals served where they were needed and when they were needed. 5,000,000 wishes granted and 5,000,000 prayers answered.

All of us at The Pongo Fund were extremely proud to provide the 5,000,000th meal this past Sunday to a dog named Von, an 8 year-old Labradoodle. Von is a professionally trained service dog that helps his person Thomas battle post-traumatic stress disorder.

Thomas and Von are a tremendous team. And The Pongo Fund is honored to be able to help them.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org

 

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Support The Pongo Fund in the 2013 Willamette Week Give!Guide

give-guideThe Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank is proud to have been selected as one of over 100 nonprofits in the 2013 Willamette Week Give!Guide.

The Pongo Fund is Oregon’s Pet Food Bank. We work for the day when no dog or cat goes hungry because their families cannot afford to keep them fed. By providing emergency pet food assistance to those in honest need, we succeed in reducing shelter populations and keeping people and their pets together. Because when people go hungry, their pets go hungry too.

In 2009 a social worker told us the story of two small children who saw their family give up their beloved dog because they could not afford dog food; these children then feared they would be given up as well.

Since that day our volunteer-driven group has donated 5,000,000 meals of nutritious, high-quality pet food for some 50,000 pets belonging to more than 20,000 families. Pets that are still safe at home with their families and not in shelters. We’ve even helped spay and neuter some 1,000 animals; drastically reducing shelter populations and ending needless euthanasia. Because sometimes it’s just a simple bowl of kibble that can be the force to both keep a family together and save the lives of the animals they love.

Won’t you please help us now?

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. www.thepongofund.org

 

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Cranky Paul and Henry

Thank-You Note From PaulSometimes cranky people are cranky only because they hurt. Sore neck, aching back, bum hip, bad knee, impacted tooth, infected ear, broken dentures, sinus infection. Even just a mild headache that has ached for days and still aches because a small bottle of ibuprofen is $3.00 more than they currently have in their pocket.

Paul is that sort of cranky person. He’s new to Portland, a United States Veteran, and he carries some wounds with him. Wounds that he carries both inside and out. Paul has a service dog named Henry and Henry needed food. Paul did too, but he told his caseworker that he was more concerned about Henry. So Paul’s caseworker called The Pongo Fund because we had been added to a list of resources exactly for times like this.

Paul’s caseworker said the Resource List is their Bible, the place they turn for help in solving the problems they don’t always know how to solve otherwise. Helping disabled veterans feed their dogs is one of those problems. But just because a name is on the Resource List doesn’t mean it will always be the right resource. But in this case there were five stars ***** next to the words “Pongo Fund.” And the caseworker said that when you’re helping Military Veterans and you see five stars, you know that’s going to be a great resource.

We got the information we needed to dispatch our Emergency Kibble Response Team. With one last warning from the caseworker. He said Paul was pretty much cranky all of the time. He just wanted us to know that.

We met Paul and Paul was cranky. But then Henry jumped up on his lap, licked his face and Paul giggled like Cindy Brady. A proud man. A proud man in pain. Pain that came from serving our Country. And deeply embarrassed that he needed our help. But Henry was not embarrassed.

We think Henry’s primary role as a service dog was to lick Paul’s face and turn his frown into a smile. Because that’s what we saw. And Henry did it so well that we knew he was well practiced at it.

There were many questions we wanted to ask, many conversations we wanted to have. But our job was to deliver the food and get on our way. To let Paul and Henry get back to their day. So we said our goodbyes and exited.

A few days later there was a note waiting for us at The Pongo Fund. It was just three words, a simple thank you from Paul. How he managed to carry himself with all his hurts to our door to leave us a note is something we’ll never know. But he did. And this is why we Pongo.

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It Happened 3 1/2 Years Ago Today

It happened exactly 3 ½ years ago today. The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank opened its doors for the first time on November 8, 2009.

On that Sunday morning Pam Bartel was first in line. She and her husband had lost their home to foreclosure after her husband lost his job. And they desperately needed help keeping their animal family fed. Because their pets were family too.

Loading bags of Canidae dog food and Felidae cat food into the trunk of her car, she said she was looking forward to getting home and feeding Fuzzy the dog and Spaghetti the cat. Knowing that they wouldn’t go hungry made her eyes well up. “That makes me want to cry.”

The Pongo Fund remains a small volunteer driven team. A team comprised of diligent and dedicated individuals that together have provided nearly 5,000,000 nutritious meals for tens of thousands of starving family pets throughout Oregon and SW Washington.

A team determined to reduce shelter populations and end needless euthanasia. A team determined to give a chance to animals that might not otherwise have a chance. A team determined to give hope to families that have little else to be hopeful for.

Because sometimes, a simple bowl of kibble can be the force that both keeps a family together and saves the lives of the animals they love.

As Albert Pine said: “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

Wishing you Peace Love and Kibble. Thank you from all of us at The Pongo Fund.

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What Does It Mean To Pongo?

The names and faces have been changed for privacy.

What does it mean to Pongo? It means that when you have lost your job and the first paycheck from your new job is still 30 days away, and the food you feed your 90 lb. rescued greyhound is a high-quality special diet due to her extreme allergies, and the $70 cost per bag is $70 more than you have right now, and you have already borrowed from everyone you know, pawned everything you have and they won’t let you give any more blood this week, then you Pongo.

Because this 90 lb. lapdog named Elsa is the most important thing in the world to you.  And you will stop at nothing to make sure she is happy and healthy and never knows hunger. These are the times you Pongo.

More than 350 hungry animals received nutritious food from The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank yesterday. And every single one of them has a story. This was the story for Jen and Elsa. A story that Jen said did not begin well on Sunday when she sat in despair, unsure of what she was going to do. She had heard good things about The Pongo Fund but worried that what she heard was too good to be true.

And she said the last thing she wanted to do was tell her Elsa she was leaving to get her breakfast but come home empty handed. She felt afraid, she felt nervous and she felt defeated. But when she left, she said she was walking on air with a big bag of the very food she had dreamed of getting. And she could not get home fast enough to show Elsa the new bag.

This is what it means to Pongo.

32 trained Pongo volunteers rocked the house yesterday, coming together as we always do to celebrate the people and their pets. Yesterday was a Pongo Day. And we are still smiling about it today.

Peace. Love. Kibble. From all of us at The Pongo Fund.

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Walter is a 6,000 pound Superstar!

This is Walter. And Walter is a 6,000 pound SUPERSTAR. Because he and his Mom Glynis hosted  Doin’ It For The Doggies Part 2 last week.  A rockin’ event that was beyond fun with more than 100 devoted pet lovers, fosters, rescuers and all around great people together in one room to Do It For The Doggies. And when all was said and done, Walter, Glynis and their cast of friends raised enough money to buy 6,000! lbs. of dog and cat food for The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank. Because hungry people have hungry pets. And during these tough times, it really could be anyone of us. On behalf of all of us at The Pongo Fund, we wish you Peace. Love. And Kibble. And we sincerely thank you.