CANIDAE Helps The Pongo Fund Provide over 200,000 Meals to Portland Dogs and Cats
12/23/2009
Following the unprecedented CANIDAE donation of $125,000 worth of premium pet food to The Pongo Fund, Founder Larry Chusid is off to a great start, fulfilling his vision of helping families in need stay together by ensuring that they are able to feed their companion animals. Chusid and his team of volunteers have provided hundreds of Portland area dog and cat owners with a two-week supply of premium pet food over the course of the three Sundays they have been open to the public beginning with their first day in November of this year. Opening their doors every second and fourth Sunday of the month, The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank has already provided over 200,000 meals to area dogs and cats.
"Numerous folks told me that, without us, they could not keep their companion pets," said Chusid, who continued, "and we’re not done yet! Many guests took the time to call and tell me how much they appreciated the respect and kindness they received, along with the super high-quality food. Our most special guest of the day was Maya, a 10-year-old girl who decided that her $100 birthday money should be used to feed the hungry pets. She joined us, along with her grandparents, and signed bags of CANIDAE that were then given to our guests. I received a special email from Paul, grandfather of Maya. He said that she was all smiles and couldn’t stop talking about her visit the rest of the day."
In an email to The Pongo Fund, CANIDAE donation recipient Dennis Diciglio wrote, "I was at The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank a few weeks ago and you offered us two bags of CANIDAE dog food. Not long ago my son ran into some family friends who had a Bull Mastiff puppy, 6 months old and about 75 lbs., named Jasper, that they could not afford to keep. To my surprise we quickly became Jasper's new home. Our Lab grew up on CANIDAE Lamb and Rice and of course that's what we wanted to feed the newcomer. Luckily my son found The Pongo Fund online and Larry came to the rescue. Our Lab, Grizzley, loves the CANIDAE Lamb and Rice Dog Food and Jasper practically inhales it. Thank you for bridging the gap in these very trying times."
In addition to receiving free super-premium pet food, recipients are given nutritional information and tips for safely transitioning their dogs to an all natural, premium diet. All recipients are invited to return every two weeks to receive more food for their companion animals, so long as they have a need.
"A lot of these folks were surprised to find that they needed less CANIDAE than the pet foods from grocery stores they were used to feeding," said CANIDAE Sales Manager Jon Tingle. "We explained that because CANIDAE doesn't contain the corn, wheat and fillers that some other brands do, there is a lot more nutrition in each pound."
