Just before his 4th birthday, Roman McConn went to PetSmart with his mother. He noticed many crates filled with dogs, who were visiting from an animal shelter for an adoption event.

“Why are there so many dogs in crates here, Mommy?” the little animal lover asked his mom, Jennifer McConn.

“Honey, those dogs are here looking for families to adopt them because they don’t have homes,” she told her son.

Why don’t all doggies have homes? Roman thought as his little heart broke.

That year, for his fifth birthday, Roman decided to use his special day to raise money and awareness for the cause that had touched his heart. He requested that friends and family give him money so he could donate it to a shelter.

What a sweet, kind son, Jennifer thought, overflowing with excitement. I wonder if we can do even more.

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In 2015, when the family lived in San Angelo, Texas, they started by taking pictures and videos of shelter dogs and promoting the canines on social media. Their efforts immediately helped many dogs find happy homes.

“We have to keep this up,” Jennifer told Roman. “Let’s make it an official nonprofit. I think we could really keep making a difference!”

From there, Project Freedom Ride was born, and the McConn family brainstormed more ways to help pups in need.

Saving lives

Before long, Roman’s family had to relocate to Washington state. But Roman’s heart still ached for the dogs in Texas. So the McConns decided to reach out to animal rescuers in San Angelo, who helped them raise funds to transport the dogs up to their town in Washington.

Euthanasia rates are much lower at Washington shelters, and it wasn’t as common for animals to lose their lives due to overcrowding. The hope was that they could live in the shelters long enough to find a family that would adopt them.

During that first transport, the family hired a company that drove 31 dogs in a horse trailer to the Pacific Northwest. Soon, word spread about Roman’s rescue mission, and he was interviewed on a news show. Donations began pouring in, and the McConns had the financial capacity to begin helping more and more pups.

Four-legged family

Not long after, the McConn family was relocated again to Evans, Georgia, where Roman’s father, Jeff—now retired from the Navy—decided he’d take the initiative to start making the rescue drives himself.

“What if we get a custom van and I can drive pups from Georgia to northern states with lower kill rates?” Jeff pondered. He immediately enlisted a close friend to volunteer and acquired a van.

Since then, Project Freedom Ride has saved the lives of more than 5,000 dogs, and Jeff and his friend still pack up the van at least once per month and drive 15 to 20 dogs to safe havens. They do the long drives together, taking turns between driving and sleeping.

Sometimes they go on the northwestern route to states like Washington and Idaho, and other times, they visit states farther east like Wisconsin, Michigan and New York.

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They deliver the dogs directly to shelters or straight to individual families, who adopt them from ProjectFreedomRide.org. Their “freedom” rides help bring smiles to thousands of sweet pups in need and to their new humans.

Kaitlin Carlisle of Olympia, Washington, has adopted three of her dogs from Project Freedom Ride: Charlie, a Shih Tzu, Louie, a Chihuahua and terrier mix and Megalodon, a Shih Tzu mix. “Project Freedom Ride is such a wonderful organization. Roman is amazing!” says Kaitlin. “We love being able to support them, and we’re just so grateful. Our dogs bring us so much joy and complete our family.”

As for Roman’s parents, they beam with pride to see the impact he’s made. “Roman has always advocated for the underdog, so we really try to stay true to that,” Jennifer says. “We just feel very adamant: We will do everything for these dogs.”

Roman says he has always loved dogs because they are so lovable and loyal, and he feels compelled to save them. “It’s a good feeling because you gave that dog a second chance, and helped them out of the hardest part of their life,” he says. “You helped get them where they were meant to be!”