The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank

Not too long ago Ceili, a 15-year-old Lab Mix belonging to Gayle Jewell & Danny Fincher, saved Danny’s life when he suffered a massive heart attack. She was honored as a Hero Dog of the Year finalist by the Humane Society of the United States. All are doing well now, but this story almost had a very different ending.

Because hungry people mean hungry pets.

Ceili and her family were all struggling, and Gayle and Danny had reached one of life’s most horrendous decisions. They were going to surrender Ceili because they could no longer afford to keep her fed.

But then they heard about The Pongo Fund Emergency Pet Food Bank.

After just their first visit they knew they had a chance. Because with food for Ceili, she was able to remain at home with her family. It was just a few weeks later when Ceili saved Danny’s life as he suffered a massive heart attack.

Serendipity of the best sort, as one bowl of kibble ultimately saved two lives.

While human food banks ease the hunger of people in need, their pets frequently still go hungry. The Pongo Fund makes a difference by fighting the hunger and hunger insecurity ultimately faced by both. We are Oregon’s only resource singularly dedicated to this battle, and our all-volunteer organization has donated nearly 2,000,000 emergency pet meals to date.

For families that can’t afford to feed their pets the consequences are greater than just an empty stomach. Many pets will be surrendered to already overburdened shelters, many more will merely be abandoned. Finding new homes for these pets are never guaranteed. Families will be torn apart, simply because there’s not enough money to buy pet food.

The Pongo Fund helps so that families no longer must feed their own emergency food rations to their family pets. By fighting family hunger in a way that no one else does, we help feed the entire family by feeding their pets.

In many ways we have become a safety net for many of Oregon’s most respected safety nets. Dozens of agencies all rely on The Pongo Fund for the emergency pet food needs for their own clients, including the Oregon Food Bank Network, Oregon Department of Human Services, Salvation Army, United Way/211 and the Oregon Humane Society.

The Pongo Fund helps reduce shelter populations and keep animals alive by donating emergency pet food to struggling families unable to keep their own pets fed. Protecting these animals from being abandoned, surrendered or worse when a lack of food, but not a lack of love, is their only enemy.

But really, what we do is give a chance to animals that otherwise would not have a chance, and give hope to those families that frequently have little else to hope for.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live.

www.thepongofund.org

Links:

• www.facebook.com/thepongofund