How The Pongo Fund Feeds Hungry Pets in Portland

PORTLAND, OR — The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank is Oregon’s only full-time pet food charity. The Pet Food Bank's goal is to ensure that when families are struggling to make ends meet, their pets don't end up going hungry.

Working alongside a network of generous suppliers including Canidae All Natural Pet Foods, The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank has given more than 9.6 million lifesaving meals to more than 90,000 hungry animals throughout 28 different Oregon and Southwest Washington counties.

For pet owners in need, The Pet Food Bank is open on the following upcoming dates:

• September 25
• October 9
• October 23
• November 13
• November 27
• December 11
• December 25

The Pet Food Bank is located at 3632 SE 20th Avenue in Portland. If you're thinking of attending at any of the upcoming dates, be sure to call (503) 939-7555 on the day. Also, make sure that you bring a government issued photo ID; your food stamp card and a current letter of state documentation if you receive food stamps; and a current phone, cable or utility bill, mortgage or rent statement, or a document to verify your address.

The typical schedule on the calendar dates listed will look like this:

• 10 a.m. – Line begins and entry tickets provided
• 10:30 a.m. – Doors open
• 12 p.m.– Food distribution begins
• 1 p.m. – Last entry ticket given out
• 1:30 p.m. – Doors close

The Pongo Fund also requires that the pets they help are spayed or neutered, unless your vet has noted that it would be unsafe to do so. The Pongo Fund assists with the spaying and neutering of pets, as well.

The Pongo Fund believes that keeping a family together includes keeping pets as part of the family. The example that they uses on their website is a touching one:

Imagine an 82 year-old grandmother with a 16 year-old cat named Whiskers that is her only family. A cat who means more to her than anything else. Which is why she gives up her own lunch to feed Whiskers. At least that’s what she did before she found us. But now we provide cat food to keep Whiskers fed, so she can enjoy her own lunch to keep herself fed. And that 82 year old grandmother? What if she were your grandmother?

For more information on the Pet Food Bank, visit The Pongo Fund's website.

Photo by Ben Sibley via flickr