YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
How it all began
When Hal Donaldson, founder of Convoy of Hope, was 12 years old, a drunk driver killed his father. “My mother was in the car and was injured and couldn’t work after that,” says Donaldson. “My father didn’t have insurance and neither did the man who hit him. So my family was forced to survive on government assistance. We really survived because people were kind to us.”
A family took them in for a year. Two families shared a singlewide trailer. “There weren’t enough beds, so we took turns sleeping on the floor,” says Donaldson. “But it was an amazing year of kindness. This family just wrapped their arms around us and really showed us love.”
The patriarch of the family, Bill Davis, noticed that Hal was struggling with the reality of living in poverty and why the man who killed his father walked out of jail 48 hours later. “It didn’t seem just to me,” Hal says. “I had so many questions.”
Mr. Davis cautioned him not to allow the tragedy of his youth to become a lifelong excuse because “where you start in life does not dictate where you end.” Donaldson says that encouragement helped him make it through that incredibly tough time. “I experienced the shame of poverty, but I also experienced the power of kindness at a young age.”
Finding his mission
Fast forward several years and Donaldson attained a degree in journalism. He began writing books in his twenties, and an assignment landed him in Kolkata, India, where he met Mother Teresa. Over the course of that conversation, she asked, “Young man, what are you doing to help the poor and the suffering?” Donaldson says he told her the truth, which was that he wasn’t really doing anything. He wanted to give back but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Mother Teresa told him that he should just do the “next kind thing” in front of him. Those words haunted and inspired the young Donaldson.
Upon returning to his home in California, he and friends decided to load a pickup truck with groceries to pass out to migrant farm worker families who were struggling.
“That was the beginning of me finding my mission in life,” says Donaldson. “It brought incredible fulfillment, but it also met a need.”
Eventually that one truck turned into a box truck that turned into a semi that turned into a fleet of semis.
However, Donaldson never really wanted to start a charity. Convoy of Hope grew out of necessity because of its exponential and rapid growth. “I’m a person of faith, and I believe that God wants to help the poor and the suffering,” says Donaldson. "We just raised our hands and said we’d try."
Convoy of Hope now feeds more than 200,000 children in school in 14 countries and responds to disasters all over the world. The organization helps thousands of mothers start their own businesses so they can generate income to feed their families. “That’s very dear to my heart because I was raised by a single mom who had a very difficult time in the workplace and had a hard time making ends meet,” says Donaldson. “To be able to empower women to become the breadwinner in their home is a big deal for me personally.”
Why base out of Springfield?
In 25 years, Convoy of Hope has grown from a pickup truck to the 82nd largest charity in the nation, according to Forbes. “People around the country ask me how Convoy has grown so rapidly. There’s no doubt it is, in part, because of the people of this community,” says Donaldson. “The people in this community have been so compassionate, so generous, so giving. They volunteer so much of their time. Businesses, civic organizations and churches have banded together and served as such a great base for Convoy of Hope.”
Donaldson was inspired to write his latest book, “Disruptive Compassion,” by a group of university students who wanted to know how they could get involved and do good works. “There is something special about the kindness of the Ozarks,” says Donaldson. “It’s hard for me to describe other than there’s just a willingness to serve others. It’s been pretty amazing to see.”
A safe room and classroom addition at Willard Central Elementary School will be used by the music, arts and athletic programs for a district that had 4,536 students last year, according to Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education figures, but school officials say enrollment is projected to grow.
