Q +A with Superstar Kid Dog Rescuer, Roman McConn of Project Freedom Ride
I'm so excited to interview my friend Roman McConn for today's blog post. I met Roman and his mother Jennifer while volunteering at my local animal shelter here in Georgia. Roman and his family run the non-profit Project Freedom Ride which they started in Texas, prior to moving to Georgia. The Project Freedom Ride mission reads: Project Freedom Ride’s mission is to be the connection between unwanted dogs in high kill areas of Texas and loving families in the Pacific Northwest. By providing our Texas Rescue Partners with funding assistance, networking, and adoption assistance we are able to help increase the number of lives saved by giving them a second chance with families and receiving partners outside of Texas.
Roman is such a special kid. Through Project Freedom Ride, Roman and his family have rescued well over 2,000 dogs. And when he was 7 years old, Roman received the 2018 ASPCA Kid of the Year Award for his work with animals. Pretty spectacular!
Photo courtesy of Jennifer McConn
Here he is below talking about all of the dogs he has rescued with none other than Ellen DeGeneres!
In this photo released by Warner Bros., behind the scenes photos are taken during a shoot for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in Los Angeles. (Photo by Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.)
We hope you enjoy our chat with Roman and Jennifer McConn below!
Jennifer McConn, Roman's Mom: Roman was born into a home with 2 dogs already. Bimmer (a Rottweiler / Lab Mix) and Bubba (a Black Lab).
Roman's parents, Jeff and Jennifer McConn with their dogs Bimmer and Bubba.
He actually adopted his OWN dog in 2018, when he was 6. Her name is Ru and she was actually a PFR dog who struggled finding the right home in the PNW after transport from TX.
Roman and his Rescue dog, Ru. Photo Courtesy of Jennifer McConn
Roman at home with his dogs, Zion, Ru, Luna and two foster puppies. Photo Courtesy of Jennifer McConn
I know I shouldn't play favorites, but Luna is my favorite of the McConn's dogs. Look at that supermodel pose!
Jennifer McConn, Roman's Mom: Roman learned that not all dogs make it out of shelters alive when he was just 4 years old and lived in Texas. He then decided he wanted to help. He would go with me to make videos of the dogs needing homes at the local high kill shelter. One year later we moved to Washington, when Jeff went overseas to Japan, and we were missing helping the Texas dogs we had grown so fond of. That's when we decided to help them. We knew our rescue friends could cover the vetting of the dogs while they were in Texas but the transportation costs and receiving rescues was the issue. We started raising money and came up with partnerships in the PNW and funds and in Dec. 2016 we had our first transport of 31 dogs from TX bound for the PNW. It has since grown to helping over 3200 dogs.
Learn more about Project Freedom Ride here!
Roman: My best memory is when my foster dog Ru became my very own dog. Ru hadn't worked out in her THIRD home so my mom and grandparents surprised me with her. My grandparents had gone and picked her up and my mom took me over to their house. I walked out into their field and Ru came running to me. It is a day I will never forget. I had loved her from the first time I met her off transport 4 months earlier.
We hope you will join us in supporting Project Freedom Ride on this Giving Tuesday! You can donate to PFR here!