Convoy of Hope

Convoy of Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization founded in 1994 and known for its international programs of feeding and otherwise helping poor people. Based in Springfield, Missouri, it also helps in disaster-relief work and has recently begun a science education program in the United States and elsewhere.

Founding

The organization was founded in 1994 to bring "food, supplies and hope to the impoverished and suffering." It began by serving Mid-America but has now expanded to other areas. Hal Donaldson, a co-founder and chief executive officer, recalled in 2014 that the group was founded in California but moved to Missouri some two years later because the state was "one of the great trucking corridors of America." He chose Springfield because he and his wife had attended Evangel College there.

He said he and his two brothers, Steve and Dave, and a sister founded the organization a quarter century after their father was killed by a drunk driver and their mother was hospitalized. The siblings were taken in by neighbors and that response, he said, taught him to do "something tangible" in response to other people's need. Hal Donaldson, a journalist and author, was 12 years old at the time.

Scope of services

It is "known for its food relief work in times of disasters." It has fed "more than 125,000 children in disaster-stricken areas across the planet," according to spokesperson Jeff Nene. "I don't think there is anybody that does exactly what we do," he said, adding that the charity in 2013 was feeding "more than 125,000 children in disaster-stricken areas across the planet." In the United States "thousands of volunteers" were organized into "outreach programs that provided free groceries, family portraits, résumé advice, dental screenings and other services" for indigent people. The Convoy had "Christian roots," Nene said, but "a person's faith or belief system is not a condition of receiving our help."

Projects

Each year Convoy of Hope sponsors events where "free groceries, job and health fairs, and activities for children are provided." Some of the events:

• Some million dollars in goods and services were handed out in September 2014 at the Convention Center in Sioux City, Iowa, including "haircuts, dental screenings, family portraits and groceries." There were also bounce castles, face painting and balloon animals. Children were given free pairs of tennis shoes.

• in 2013, a day-long event was held in the French Hill area of Marlborough, Massachusetts, attracting some thousand people for "lunch, haircuts, family portraits, clothing, shoes, groceries, medical screenings and other supplies." There was a social services tent and a prayer tent as well.

• In 2011, more than 5,300 people gathered in Memorial Park of Rapid City, South Dakota, for a Convoy event featuring blood-pressure and blood-sugar tests as well as physical exams for children. Six thousand bags of food were distributed in a grocery tent. Ron Showers, national director of outreach for the organization, said that the event stemmed from "previous local community outreach events by local faith-based and secular groups."

• Similar events have been held in Leesburg, Virginia, Memphis, Tennessee, and elsewhere.

Disaster relief

• The organization "sent out several tractor-trailers of relief supplies" to flood-damaged areas in Longmont, Evans, Boulder and other counties in Colorado in September 2013.

• In 2012, Convoy of Hope distributed food, water, flood buckets and other relief supplies in Slidell, Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Isaac. In the same year the group had already staged a fleet of tractor-trailers in Pennsylvania when Hurricane Sandy struck the northeast shore of the United States, and "more than $3 million in aid" was brought to victims in New York and New Jersey.

Overseas development

Africa

In 2010 Convoy of Hope received a federal grant to establish a women's micro-enterprise program in developing nations, beginning with a 10-week endeavor in Ethiopia that included "basic financial training, writing numbers, keeping a ledger, the importance of saving money and basic things" to help women, said Kara Edson, the group's director of women's empowerment. More than 1,100 women had completed the program, with a cap and gown ceremony, whe said. The program has been expanded to Tanzania and El Salvador.

Phillippines

With a regional headquarters in Lucena, Philippines, Convoy of Hope has established a business program for local people and has developed three aquaponics systems for production of tilapia, which provide not only food but also waste products to nourish vegetable and other plants above ground.

Evangel University

Convoy of Hope and Evangel University, both based in Springfield, have signed an agreement to "increase and improve 'applied science expertise' " in the United States and in Africa, Central America and South Africa. Brittni Woods is the project coordinator.

National tours

Convoy of Hope staged a tour across the United States beginning June 16, 2012, when "thousands of people down on their luck" gathered in Swope Park, Kansas City, Missouri, where tents were set up and volunteers distributed food, gave haircuts and made job referrals.

A similar tour was held in September 2013.

Rating

For eleven years in a row, Convoy of Hope has earned a four-star rating, the highest, from Charity Navigator, an organization that evaluates charities in the United States.

Notable supporters

• Paul Kevin Jonas II, Joseph Adam Jonas and Nicholas Jerry Jonas of the singing group Jonas Brothers have been affiliated with Convoy of Hope since 2009. The brothers' Change for the Children Foundation has made grants to the organization.

External links

• [1] Day of Hope in Bangor, Maine, WABI television report, September 3, 2014
• [2] "'Convoy of Hope' Reaches Out to Americans Below Poverty Line," Fox News television report, July 14, 2012