Caring Friends, Inc. initiates, encourages and leverages resources with those who offer a hand up to at risk children, to the victims of fire and domestic violence, to the ex-offender and homeless veterans in re-entry, to the Haitian doctors in crisis over broken medical equipment, to children drinking contaminated water in Haiti and to children in schools and apartments wanting to read at grade level.
Caring Friends derives its ethos from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and works without regard for race, gender, or religious affiliation.
SUSTAINABILITY: Caring Friends focuses on accountability and sustainability, both in choosing kindred spirit project partners and in supporting award programs that encourage strong character and due diligence for those Leading The Way in their communities.
DONORS AS PARTNERS: THE 100% PRINCIPLE
100% of all donations from the public go to services and projects. (The Founders of Caring Friends cover all administrative and employee expenses.)
FOUNDED IN 2006:
Caring Friends, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit, founded in 2006 in Houston, Texas by Chairman of the Board Jeff Springmeyer, Vice Chairman Jim Donnell, Executive Director John Collier, and board members Ashley Madray and Susan Butler.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: John C. Collier serves on the boards of Pro Salud, Police and Clergy Team (PACT), Pro-Vision’s Charter School, and is a charter member and past president (2010-2011) of the West University Rotary Club.
John graduated from Lufkin High School, The University of Texas (BBA), SMU (M Div), and Rice University (MA), with additional graduate work in ethics, theology, and philosophy at Rice and the University of Tulsa.
With a special love for baseball, John pitched on Lufkin’s Pony League World Championship team in 1957, the 1959 Pony Grad World Championship team, and the Lufkin-Nacogdoches 1960 American Legion State Championship team. Named 1st team All-State pitcher in 1961 and Southwest Conference Co-MVP in 1965 as a Longhorn, he turned down offers from the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals.
John’s work history as a United Methodist ordained minister includes being a youth director in Kentucky, a campus minister at the University of Tulsa, and staff minister at West University United Methodist Church for 25 years from 1981-2006.
John and wife, Polly, live in Houston and work together in the Caring Friends ministry. Four married children and ten grandchildren live in Oregon, Utah, and Texas.