MANSFIELD, Ohio — Regardless of the weather conditions, J.D. Riley takes to the streets of Mansfield daily to help those in need, specifically homeless, elderly and injured veterans, as part of “Mission Possible.”
Mission Possible is a nonprofit organization that aids those who have served or are currently serving in the military.
Riley, who is the founder and sole person involved in this organization, helps veterans by offering them free meals at various spots in Mansfield, including Central Park.
Her packed lunches often include a sandwich, chips, fruit cup, cookie and bottled water or Gatorade. Sometimes, especially during the winter months, she’ll give people hot meals from a local restaurant.
When giving a meal to people, she’ll always ask them if they’re homeless and if so for how long, if they’ve ever served in the military, “and most importantly, when’s the last time they’ve eaten,” she said.
Whether they’ve served in the military or not, “I don’t turn away anybody,” she said. “If they’re hungry, I’m going to give them a meal.”
She also distributes information that can connect people with area resources.
“I try to make sure that they know if for some reason I’m not out today, there are places to go,” she said.
One of her “regulars,” Allen Davis, often tells her where other people in need are while she’s out serving. She said sometimes she’ll drive through the city two or three times looking for people, and in some cases, people will approach her.
She mostly sticks to Mansfield, “but I’ll go wherever the need takes me,” she said.
Mission Possible formed in 2010 when Riley participated in a STARTEK training class. As part of the class, she was encouraged to help give back to the community, and so she decided to do something involving the military.
She organized a drive at Walmart, asking people to donate items that could be shipped to troops who had been deployed. During the nine-week class, she was able to help ship 65 care packages overseas.
After the class ended, she continued helping assemble care packages and has since shipped over 300 packages.
“I just want to give back,” she said. “These guys gave it all. Some of them come home fine with no injuries at all; some of them come home and aren’t ever the same.”
Care packages can be costly, she noted, so it’s nice to be able to help those who can’t afford sending items to their loved ones.
“I had a friend that was overseas, and he was talking about supply drops and how they weren’t getting in. These guys were going weeks, and in one case three months, without showers, without anything to clean themselves with, so we put together this emergency care package that had shampoo, soaps, baby wipes and stuff that wasn’t going to perish,” she said.
Riley relies on donations to help with funding. “In the beginning, it was pretty expensive because I was paying for a lot of the stuff out of my pocket,” she said. Now, she gets help from local businesses and organizations.
She juggles her volunteer efforts with a fulltime job. Despite the busyness that may cause, she said, “It gives you a good feeling when you’re helping somebody that can’t help themselves.”
For more information about Mission Possible, visit the website.
