Last night we had a wild series of dreams. We found ourself sleeping in the basement of a Portland business executives' club, and secretly watching as crooks withdrew their illegal stash out of the club safe in the early morning hours when they thought no one was looking. There was an umbrella that we couldn't get open. There was a woman who wore four coats. And next to us on the bed was our old orange cat, Ralphie, who had followed us to the club. His meows were so communicative that it was like he was speaking English.

It must have been the hot sauce on last night's burritos, but maybe there was a message of some kind in there. This morning we learn that a Portland charity, a pet food bank called the Pongo Fund, is in the running to win a substantial prize in a national popularity contest. A friend writes:

The Pongo Fund is competing in the national Chase Community Giving competition and is currently in the top 40 out of 2,500 charities and nonprofits nationwide. A total of some $5 million will be donated to the Top 196 charities determined by total votes received, ranging from $250k for the winner, $100k each for the next 10, $50k each for the next 35, etc. The Pongo Fund is currently in the running for $50k! But they need votes, votes, and more votes to stay in the top 40, or maybe even inch up the ladder to win $100k! But the deadline to vote is next Wednesday, and so the word needs to get out soon.

The Pongo Fund's website is here. The idea is that it feeds poor and homeless people's pets so that the people and the animals can stay together in hard times. It's a food bank for Fido.

As best we can tell, you need to be on Facebook to vote in the contest, but if you are, you can do what we just did and go here. Tell 'em Ralphie sent you.