Hear stories from some of our most inspirational voices — you!
Pictured: Donald Parks
Listen: Week of February 20, 2020
Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. I'm Donald Parks and I'm Executive Director of Good News Outreach. This is a new job for me. I've spent 35 years in higher ed administration and the last six and a half months in non-profit administration has been a very interesting journey. Good news outreach started in 1986. Four gentlemen decided that they wanted to make a difference in poverty here and started a soup kitchen in French town and it has evolved over the years and we've touched a lot of different areas. Well, I'm finding out that there are really systemic needs in our community. There are folks with children who are living on very modest incomes. There are men coming out of prison that really can lose their way if they don't have support. There are senior citizens that not only are food deprived but also star for human interaction and those are the types of things we do at Good News Outreach. We are moving to make strategic partnerships because Good News doesn't have the whole answer. We relocated in December and we share office space with Echo Outreach Ministries, another really fine organization and they have strengths that we don't have. We're reaching out to other nonprofits like Ready for Work, The Girl Scouts to provide these wraparound services. So I think at least part of the answer is breaking down silos, being open to realize that Good News Outreach, no nonprofit agency has the whole answer, finding strategic partnerships and that I think is something that we're able to do pretty effectively. Everybody can do something. Antala Hassi is an incredibly diverse and an incredibly generous community. So find somebody that's doing something exciting. Good News is one of those places and get involved not necessarily financially, volunteer, do something I think that your life will be probably at least as enriched as the person that you try to help. I'm Donald Parks and I'm Executive Director of Good News Outreach. You're listening to Voices That Inspire.
Donald Parks - Your Life Will Be As Enriched As The Person You Try To Help
Good News Outreach's executive director, Donald Parks, met with us to speak about his work in our communities. Good News Outreach started in 1986 with a soup kitchen, and has evolved over the last 34 years. The organization encounters and tries to connect with people in various states of need throughout our area. To get involved in activities to help others, Donald recommends that all of us can find an organization doing work that excites us.