Cesar Tells Of Pongo Fund, A Food Bank For Pets

When Larry Chusid discovered in 2009 that no resource existed to provide dog and cat food to Portland, Oregon area pet owners in need, he made it his mission to become that resource.
The Pongo Fund, named after Chusid’s late four-legged best friend who thrived on homemade food, exists to distribute healthy, high-quality diets to anyone with hungry pets. To date, the nonprofit organization has provided more than 3,731,013 healthy meals to dogs and cats in need.

“A healthy pet leads to a healthy family,” says Chusid, The Pongo Fund’s executive director. “Our belief is that if the family cannot afford pet food, they’re facing a lot of struggles, and giving them low-quality food is only going to exacerbate the situation. Let’s make sure that we take care of the soul of the family: the animal.”

Caring for a Community

Though traditional food-bank networks throughout the Pacific Northwest provide food to people in need, they only focused on the two-legged family members, Chusid says. “I wanted to make sure hungry animals had access to great food, but I was shocked to learn there was no resource. I just thought, this can’t continue.”

So he used his own resources to purchase high-quality pet food and began giving it out twice a day, every day, to families with pets living under bridges or on the streets. He was making a difference, but he felt it wasn’t enough. He wanted to reach everyone in need – including those behind four walls.

“The people who are living outdoors with pets were the easiest people to access because they were out there,” he said. “But what about all the people who are living behind four walls? Suffering in silence?”

Three years ago, Chusid began to formulate a plan — a plan that came to fruition thanks to a chance encounter with Canidae Pet Food CEO Scott Whipple. When Chusid shared his vision, Whipple wanted to help.

“I told him that I wanted to open a pet food bank that would exceed the expectations that anyone ever had when it came to opening any food bank,” Chusid recalls. “I wanted to reach out and care for a community that was in such dire need, that could not afford to feed their pets. But I wanted to do it in a way that was filled with courtesy and dignity, something beyond what anyone even imagined possible.

When Chusid said he needed $125,000 worth of food, Whipple didn’t even blink.
“[Whipple] said, ‘You can count on that donation. When do you want it?’ I couldn’t believe it,” Chusid says. “Canidae has allowed The Pongo Fund to develop an organization with a mission statement of providing quality pet food for the family pets of anyone in honest need.”

In 2010, after just one year in operation, The Pongo Fund had served more than 1 million meals — all made possible by Canidae, pet food maker Dogswell, and the countless volunteers who distribute the food every month.

“When we opened our doors on November 8, 2009, we had forty people that came that day and received literally life-saving respite in terms of the food for who they consider to be the most valuable members of their family: their pets,” Chusid said. “One year later, November 14, 2010, we celebrated our one-year anniversary. On that day, we gave out our one millionth meal. Instead of forty people in line, there were now almost two hundred.”

Since then, The Pongo Fund has provided nearly four million meals to hungry pets. “And we have also facilitated some thousand spay/neuter surgeries, a strategic formula working in unison to reduce overcrowded shelter populations,” Chusid says.

Reaching Beyond Portland

The Pongo Fund not only gives out free Canidae and Dogswell meals twice a month via its distribution center, but it also disperses food throughout Oregon and southwest Washington via allied nonprofits.

“We built this mission into a fully operational endeavor that does not only open the door and give food to the public,” Chusid said. “We have developed, integrated and managed a pet food distribution network that now supplies pet food to more than fifty different nonprofit organizations throughout Oregon and southwest Washington. That is, as far as I can tell, the largest pet food distribution network in America.”

During the month of September, The Pongo Fund will be closing its doors for the first time — but only for six weeks. Plagued with roof leaks in its existing facility, the organization has been forced to relocate to a new space in Southeast Portland.  In anticipation of the move, the group made sure its distribution network was fully stocked, Chusid says.

“The Pongo Fund has donated an extra 50,000 pounds of kibble to many of our community partners, including Snowcap Charities, Salvation Army, Neighborhood House, Potluck in the Park and Clackamas Service Center,” he says. “We also donated food to establish pet food pantries at West Columbia Gorge Humane Society and Multnomah County Animal Services. These extra food supplies will provide struggling families with increased options during this brief service interruption.”

Unfortunately, this also means The Pongo Fund’s depleted pantry will need to be restocked. Chusid says he welcomes donations from concerned supporters. “Because The Pongo Fund purchases pet food at huge discounts, monetary donations go the farthest to help feed hungry animals around the state,” he says.

“If we can continue building on what we’ve done, I remain optimistic that we can make a bigger difference than we already have,” Chusid says.