A woman’s social media post spoke volumes: “Please donate to Convoy of Hope, because cheese sandwiches and chainsaws saved my life.”
In 2017, when Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area, Convoy of Hope jumped to action to help people—like the woman who later posted her gratitude—take care of their immediate needs and then to help them rebuild and become self-sufficient.
After connecting with the post’s author, staff at Convoy of Hope learned she had been recently unemployed as a law enforcement professional when the hurricane knocked down several huge oak trees onto her residence and property. “She was at her wit’s end, sitting on her front porch when a Convoy of Hope vehicle pulled up and people gave her water and cheese sandwiches. They sent a chainsaw crew to cut down the oak trees on her residence and property,” says Ethan Forhetz, vice president of public engagement at Convoy of Hope. “She says this act saved her life.”
Since 1994, Convoy of Hope has been fulfilling its mission of serving people in times of need. Last year, they responded to 99 natural disasters, man-made disasters and humanitarian disasters. Beyond this, they provide basic, immediate assistance to help communities worldwide build a foundation to sustainability.
Last year Convoy of Hope helped communities in 65 countries. “These are places where many times the children haven’t eaten in a couple of days. They might not know where their next meal is going to come from. That’s when Convoy of Hope moves in with our children’s feeding program and provides nutritious meals with all the vitamins and minerals that the kids are going to need for the day, which allows them to concentrate on their schoolwork, stay in school and begin to work themselves out of generational poverty,” Forhetz says.
“We need water and food to live. When you don't have one or both of those things, life gets very difficult very quickly,” he continues. “Our goal is to take away that uncertainty then get people to stand on their own and provide for themselves through education, business opportunities and farming.”
To accomplish this, Convoy of Hope connects people with community organizations, like churches and government and civic associations, which can help them long term. Its three pillars—feeding children, empowering women to start businesses and teaching agriculture so people can grow their own food and a surplus to sell to support their families that work together in a way that the results are not added but are multiplied, Forhetz says.
Their deep resources are due to their partners: corporations such as The Home Depot, Bass Pro Shops, SpartanNash, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Niagara Water, religious organizations and individual donors. “We are blessed that when a disaster happens, our partners are there to help us respond with the needed supplies. Sometimes, corporate donors will even contact us before we can even reach out to them,” he says.
Convoy of Hope’s reach is both global and local. “Within an hour of Springfield already this year, we have served 32 communities, partnering with 158 groups like food pantries, churches, food banks, homeless shelters, and similar places that help people,” he says. “We have partnered with 158 local organizations and given out more than $5.2 million worth of supplies that were able to serve more than 171,000 people just in the Springfield area this year.”
At the Global Headquarters and Training Center, which opened in 2023, employees congregate from around the world to meet and train. In addition, Convoy of Hope relies on volunteers to perform duties ranging from packing groceries to driving trucks. “These volunteers allow us to maintain that 91 cents of every dollar goes where donors want it to go,” Forhetz says. For example, on most Tuesdays and Thursday nights from 6 to 8:30 pm locals can volunteer to bag groceries or create hygiene or baby supply kits.
The children’s feeding program currently feeds 639,000-plus kids globally every school day. “Our goal is to feed one million children daily by 2030,” Forhetz notes. To reach this goal, Convoy of Hope has broken ground on a 50,000-square-foot food manufacturing & packaging facility in Springfield, which will allow them to package their own meals of beans, rice and flavor packets. Construction is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2026.
“When it’s operational, we’ll have automated lines that will enable us to produce one billion meals a year,” he says. “It’s a monumental game changer not only to allow us to feed one million children every school day, but it will also allow us to be able to help supplement working families in this country and in the Springfield area.”
Learn more about Convoy of Hope at convoyofhope.org.
“Our goal is to take away that uncertainty then get people to stand on their own and provide for themselves through education, business, and farming.”
— Ethan Forhetz
Convoy of Hope Fast Facts:
Served more than 300 million people and given out more than $3.1 billion worth of supplies since its founding in 1994.
Feed 639,000-plus children every school day worldwide.
Trained 39,000 people in agriculture in 2024.
Empowered more than 61,000, women and girls in 2024.
Served in 65 countries in 2024.
Served more than 45 million people in 2024.