FWB man serves the community through charitable works
By Alicia Adams, Northwest Florida Daily News (as published January 2, 2019)
FORT WALTON BEACH — If you’re driving through town on any given day, you may have seen a man handing out lunch to homeless people on the side of the road. That man is Caleb Hammonds. He distributes bags of food every afternoon across Fort Walton Beach as a part of his charity organization, Agapelife. Each brown bag is sealed with a sticker that says “Love Another” and Agapelife’s logo.
Hammonds got the idea to start helping others in 2013 when he was living in Charlotte, North Carolina. “At first, it was because I was in a hard place myself. (I was) trying to find out my purpose,” he said. “From there, I kind of thought if I could get out of the place I was in, I could help somebody else in that place.”
Helping people who are experiencing rough times—not just homeless people—made Hammonds feel better. So he decided to turn this feeling into a movement to influence others to live that way. “First I came up with the name. I wanted to find a name that meant love,” he said, “and I found agape.”
Hammonds, who is 28, moved to Fort Walton Beach with his grandparents in 2014 when he couldn’t make his rent payment and needed somewhere to go. While he got back on his feet, he continued his mission here in Florida.
That’s when Agapelife became official. Right now, he is the only member in the area, but his best friend and sister run the same charity in North Carolina. “In Charlotte, I saw a lot of friends who were going through hard times. We were sharing one car and always helping each other out,” he said. “They started going to college and getting jobs and just living a better life… Living toward that same purpose helped us get ahead.”
Hammonds attends Northwest Florida State College part-time with an undecided major, but he plans to focus on project management. He also works at a local disability service. He spends the rest of his time volunteering in any way he can.
Agapelife’s main project is the lunch bags, but Hammonds said he also picks up trash, cleans community parks, coaches basketball for Special Olympics, and volunteers with Fresh Start and One Hopeful Place.
Aside from charitable works, Hammonds tries to use his various talents to spread his message of love. That includes writing poetry, creating music and making clothes for his organization. “The design I came up with is two dudes with their arms around each other,” said Hammonds, who came up with the idea and had someone else draw the picture. “I purposely made one black and one white.”
Hammonds has many goals for Agapelife. In a year, he hopes to have at least five more people join his mission. “Long term goals, in five years and beyond, is to actually have a place that shelters (people).” he said. “Somewhere that gives homeless people permanent housing and help them get skills.”
But for now, he will continue to drive around and give every homeless person he sees a bag full of crackers, fruit, a drink and chips. It makes him feel good when they say “God Bless” and tell him their story, Hammond said. “The word is love,” he said. “At least once every day, do something for someone else.”
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: We thank the Northwest Florida Daily News for giving us permission to publish this article that first appeared in their 2 January 2019 edition.J
Twitter: @learnagapelife
COMUNICATE CON AGAPELIFE – REACH AGAPELIFE
Facebook: Agapelife
Instagram: @learnagapelife
YouTube: Agapelife
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://learnagapelife.com/
En estos momentos Agapelife regala las camisetas con el fin de informar sobre sus servicios. Puedes mandarles mensajes usando el Facebook y pidiendo más detalles. (Right now, Agapelife is having a free T-shirt giveaway to help spread the word about the charity. Message the organization on Facebook for details.)
