This year at our Spring Breakfast fundraiser event, we are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of OneGenAway, and Richard Algood has been part of the nonprofit since the very beginning.
Richard is a member of our board of directors, and he heard about OneGenAway through his church over a decade ago. His small group leader suggested the group volunteer at our Mobile Pantry, so Richard got up early one morning to join a movement that would capture his heart for the decade to come.
“It was an amazing experience, helping my community load grocery carts full of food to then be loaded into their cars. It was like I was still 16 years old working at a grocery store, except I got to pray with these people, many of whom were moved to tears, all hugging me in appreciation for the food, prayer and attention.”
Richard was deeply impacted by this experience and began volunteering more, even helping our founder Chris rescue food from grocery stores to redistribute throughout the community.
As his passion grew, though, so did his concerns. He voiced them to our founder:
“Chris, I’ve seen people back more than once to receive food from the distributions. Don’t you think you’re being scammed?”
“I’ve taken food to cars that were a lot nicer than what I drive…”
“How do you know they’re not selling this food after they’ve received?”
Chris’ answer: “It’s not my job to sort through who’s really in need. We give away food, hope, and Jesus’ love.”
Richard said, after an hour or so of pouring out all his questions to Chris and receiving the same answers again and again, he was convinced that this is what Chris was called to do.
Today, OneGenAway holds those same values. We give — no questions asked.
We are so glad the heart of OneGenAway connected with Richard that day and every day since. He has been a blessing to this organization.
Over the past 10 years, there have been so many stories just like these. Each person who has served at our Mobile Pantry knows it’s a special place with incredibly special people.
We hope you will join us in celebrating all of these stories and the many stories to come at our 10th Anniversary Spring Breakfast on Friday, May 12. Click here to learn more about the event.