Hal Donaldson

Yeah, you know, really, we have to go back before my grandfather and... talk about what happened to me when I was 12. And when I was 12, my parents were hit by a drunken driver and my father was killed instantly. My mother was seriously injured. She'd be in the hospital for quite some time, unable to work. Our family didn't have insurance, Gary.

Yeah, you know, really, we have to go back before my grandfather and... talk about what happened to me when I was 12. And when I was 12, my parents were hit by a drunken driver and my father was killed instantly. My mother was seriously injured. She'd be in the hospital for quite some time, unable to work. Our family didn't have insurance, Gary.

And so as a result, our family was forced to survive on welfare and food stamps. So as a young boy, I really experienced the pain of poverty and the pain of suffering and the shame of all of it. And it was really the kindness of people who really reached out to me.

And so as a result, our family was forced to survive on welfare and food stamps. So as a young boy, I really experienced the pain of poverty and the pain of suffering and the shame of all of it. And it was really the kindness of people who really reached out to me.

They just wrapped their arms around me and put new shoes on my feet when they saw that I have holes in my sneakers, brought groceries to our door. So it was really the kindness of those people that I think really affected me the most long term. My grandfather was extremely successful in his line of work, but he had really got full of himself and ended up losing his entire family along the way.

They just wrapped their arms around me and put new shoes on my feet when they saw that I have holes in my sneakers, brought groceries to our door. So it was really the kindness of those people that I think really affected me the most long term. My grandfather was extremely successful in his line of work, but he had really got full of himself and ended up losing his entire family along the way.

Certainly for me, that was something along the way that I did not want to replicate. I think the biggest impact of my life was really just living in poverty, trying to escape poverty. That really was the journey I was on as a teenager. I wasn't going to live like this, like my parents had lived. So, you know, I think that really played a big part in the formation of Convoy of Hope.

Certainly for me, that was something along the way that I did not want to replicate. I think the biggest impact of my life was really just living in poverty, trying to escape poverty. That really was the journey I was on as a teenager. I wasn't going to live like this, like my parents had lived. So, you know, I think that really played a big part in the formation of Convoy of Hope.

You know, she had observed my grandfather really just getting full of himself and making some poor choices. And her advice to me was, as you enter into the workforce, you just need to work hard, be a good person, treat people with integrity, do the right thing, and everything is going to take care of itself.

You know, she had observed my grandfather really just getting full of himself and making some poor choices. And her advice to me was, as you enter into the workforce, you just need to work hard, be a good person, treat people with integrity, do the right thing, and everything is going to take care of itself.

You don't need to go and become a climber and where you are harming people along your journey. You just need to be a good person and everything will take care of itself. And, you know, that advice really was extremely instrumental. You know, my story, Gary, is I became a writer in my 20s. I have a journalism degree. I began writing books in my 20s.

You don't need to go and become a climber and where you are harming people along your journey. You just need to be a good person and everything will take care of itself. And, you know, that advice really was extremely instrumental. You know, my story, Gary, is I became a writer in my 20s. I have a journalism degree. I began writing books in my 20s.

One of those projects took me to Calcutta, India, where I interviewed Mother Teresa. And it was in the course of interviewing Mother Teresa that she just stops me and she just said, hey, young man, what are you doing to help the poor and the suffering? And I figured it was probably not a good idea to lie to Mother Teresa. So I told her the truth. I said, hey, I'm really not doing much of anything.

One of those projects took me to Calcutta, India, where I interviewed Mother Teresa. And it was in the course of interviewing Mother Teresa that she just stops me and she just said, hey, young man, what are you doing to help the poor and the suffering? And I figured it was probably not a good idea to lie to Mother Teresa. So I told her the truth. I said, hey, I'm really not doing much of anything.

And she said, everyone can do something. Just do the next kind of thing that God puts in front of you. And those words were haunting, but they dovetailed so well with what my grandmother had said. You know, just do the right thing, just do the kind thing, and everything is going to take care of itself. I came back after meeting Mother Teresa. I did what I call reconnaissance.

And she said, everyone can do something. Just do the next kind of thing that God puts in front of you. And those words were haunting, but they dovetailed so well with what my grandmother had said. You know, just do the right thing, just do the kind thing, and everything is going to take care of itself. I came back after meeting Mother Teresa. I did what I call reconnaissance.

I traveled to eight cities. I lived in the streets for three days and three nights. I went to Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, D.C., New York, major cities. And I just walked the streets with a hidden tape recorder, interviewing drug addicts and gang members, prostitutes, runaways, and the homeless, and riding with the police on the midnight shift in each of those cities.

I traveled to eight cities. I lived in the streets for three days and three nights. I went to Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, D.C., New York, major cities. And I just walked the streets with a hidden tape recorder, interviewing drug addicts and gang members, prostitutes, runaways, and the homeless, and riding with the police on the midnight shift in each of those cities.

That's really what changed the course of my life. I saw pain and suffering on a scale I'd never seen before. Came back and loaded up a pickup truck with $300 worth of groceries 30 years ago now. And that was the beginning of Convoy of Hope.

That's really what changed the course of my life. I saw pain and suffering on a scale I'd never seen before. Came back and loaded up a pickup truck with $300 worth of groceries 30 years ago now. And that was the beginning of Convoy of Hope.