
20/03/2025
She had $12 in her checking account. And a 15-year-old cat named Gray. He was out of food.
Her daughter’s teacher told her about The Pongo Fund. Her daughter was almost 9. They had a class project that cost about $10. She had $22 in her checking account before the $10 took it to $12. It wasn’t required to spend the $10, but when you’re a Mom wanting to do all you can for your little girl, you spend the $10 and you roll the dice that you will find another $10 under the seat cushions. That’s where she looked. It wasn’t there.
Unbeknownst to her, when her daughter was beaming with compliments from her teacher for her class project, her daughter shared that her Mom only had $12 left. The class project? It was a fundraiser to help the homeless. It hit close to home, because years earlier, Mom and Gray had been homeless. Before her daughter was born.
That’s why she spent the $10 she didn’t really have, so her daughter could feel the love of helping others who had even less. As Mom said, they already had so little, but there’s always someone with less.
When her daughter mentioned to her teacher that her Mom only had $12 left, it wasn’t a complaint or criticism. It was just innocent conversation, shared the way little kiddos share. More words followed and she also shared that Gray had run out of food. Mom and Gray had both gone without breakfast.
The solution isn’t always as easy as it seems. None of this was intentional or due to bad management. There was the $10, plus a few other unexpected yet urgent life expenses. And when you already have little, it’s not easy to make up the difference. Plus, her job payday was still a couple weeks away...
Here’s the connection.
The teacher had found The Pongo Fund sometime earlier when her own family faced some unexpected hardship. They needed help feeding their two dogs. And now, in her best hope to pay it forward, she shared our information with Gray’s Mom.
No judgment. Just wanting to help.
That’s when the call came to The Pongo Fund. We took it from there. At 15, Gray had a bit of a limited diet. It all worked out. Gray received food for a couple months, so they would not need to worry about this again. Food, litter, new cat cave, some toys. We did all we could.
We asked Mom what else we could help with. Not that we really could. Just an innocent question. She said we’d done enough. In fact, she said we’d done more than enough. And the timing was so important, as she had been worrying they might not be able to keep Gray, the 15-year-old foundation of their family.
What we did, she said she never expected any of it. And she said no one would be happier than her daughter, who would be over the moon when she saw all the food for Gray.
She said it would be her daughter’s best birthday ever.
What?
Her daughter’s birthday was several days away. They would celebrate, but it would be a very small celebration at best. Mom was hoping to make a cake but didn’t have all the ingredients. And going to food banks to get cake making supplies wasn’t the way they wanted to do it. But the grocery store always had day old cakes and they were both delicious and less expensive. So she knew they’d have cake and Mom would fancy it up. She was excited talking about it.
There would be some little gifts too. Some dollar store glittery things. Some markers. A Treasure Hunt at the park. Basic fun stuff, she said.
She said it may not sound like much, but she knew her daughter would love all of it. Even better with all the cat food for Gray. That’s why she said it would be her daughter’s best birthday ever.
Because that’s how her daughter was. An extra sensitive girl. And Gray was her baby.
Somehow the conversation turned again. If she had more money, her daughter would also get some new clothes. Not fancy clothes. Just new clothes. Something just for her. Maybe even Silly. Goofy. Mismatched. Crazy colors. But that would be for another year. Maybe when she turned 10.
The Pongo Fund is blessed to have a handful of donors who like to help both the pets and the people. One of them had recently sent a gift card with a note, asking us to use it for something crazy. She had been supporting The Pongo Fund for many years, and we knew what she meant when she said to do something crazy.
Crazy good, is what she meant.
A couple days later an envelope was left in a locked mailbox. It had the woman’s name on it. Inside was a card from The Birthday Fairy. Inside the card, was the gift card. It was for the big store a few blocks away that carried everything. Especially a lot of glittery stuff in crazy colors. It wasn’t a lot, but it was love. Best of all, they would never know where it came from…
And that big store? They had birthday cakes too.
The Pongo Fund is a Pet Food Bank.
Sometimes maybe even a little bit more.
Here’s to the silly, mismatched, crazy colors inside all of us.
Saving Gray.
And this is why we Pongo.
Sit. Stay. Eat. Live.
thepongofund.org
(Photo is not Gray, but another cat The Pongo Fund has helped)