TAMPA, Fla. — Kris Rotonda founded the non-profit Jordan’s Way Charities in 2018.

Named for his dog and best friend for over 10 years, Rotonda adopted Jordan when he first came to Florida from New Jersey and was feeling alone.

“She was at a shelter for three years,” he said. “The first three years of her life and when I saw her she was the same kind of mentality. Not depression but kind of down and we kind of built up together.”

Jordan lost her battle with cancer and passed in the fall of 2018.

Rotonda made a promise to her to help shelter animals locally and around the country and is working with his girlfriend Stefanie is on a 50 state mission.

“To make the unnoticed noticed. There’s a lot of animals that have been in shelters across the country for a very long time,” Rotonda said. “And there’s a lot of underfunded shelters.”

And the traveling has begun.

“I’m going to all 50 states,” he said. “I’ve done 11. (We have) 39 state planned in 2021. And I pick five shelters in each state.

We have fund raisers for them. They’re all over Facebook Live for four hours. Four hour fund raisers for them.”

His goal along with finding forever homes for thousands of animals is to raise thousands of dollars for each of the 200 shelters and rescues or more he’ll visit.

All in the memory and love for a very special best friend by the name of Jordan.

“I think any animal lover out there knows exactly what ’m talking about,” Rotonda said. “She just had a way of making me feel.

“Even though I was alone down here, i wasn’t.”