![Kevin Jonas Sr., left, and Convoy of Hope Co-Founder and President Hal Donaldson, right, discuss partnering together.](https://convoyofhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kevin-Jonas-Sr-700x466-1.png)
Kevin Jonas Sr. was recently named as Honorary Chairman for Convoy of Hope. The unique relationship between a pioneer in the entertainment industry and a humanitarian organization didn’t “just happen.” So, we thought it’d be interesting to backtrack the Jonas and Convoy of Hope story.
In 2008, Hal Donaldson engaged in an email conversation with Jonas after being introduced through a mutual friend. Before they were able to meet in person, Convoy of Hope received a surprise donation from the Jonas’ foundation. A few months later, Donaldson met Kevin and his boys at a Jonas Brothers concert in Kansas City.
On January 12, 2010, a terrible earthquake devastated Haiti. Because of our work there through the Children’s Feeding initiative, we had a team with resources on the ground responding in the hardest hit areas almost immediately after the disaster. Three days later, The Jonas Brothers — recording artists Kevin, Joe, and Nick, who had just completed a world tour — called on their millions of fans on Twitter and Facebook to join them in helping the victims of Haiti by going to Convoy of Hope’s website. But they didn’t just ask others to help — they backed up their words with a generous donation to our relief efforts in Haiti.
For the past several years, the family has shown dedication to our work to help hurting people and feed hungry children around the world. Not only have they raised their voices on behalf of the people we serve, but they’ve also given generously of their time, influence, and resources.
May 2013 brought another terrible disaster. This time an EF5 tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma. Again, Convoy of Hope had teams in the devastated area only hours after the disaster and again, the Jonas family reached out to help. Joe Jonas — the second oldest brother — traveled to Moore to spend Memorial Day weekend with our volunteers hauling downed trees, destroyed fences, and twisted sheet metal out of the yards of families who had lost almost everything.
On numerous occasions the Jonas family has reached out to quietly offer their help. Through it all, Kevin Jonas Sr. has led the family’s involvement with our work. As our Honorary Chairman, Jonas will help discover innovative strategies to inspire people that will follow in his family’s footsteps and commit time, influence, and resources to bring help and hope to people in desperate situations.
“My goal is to use my experience to build bridges for Convoy of Hope, raise additional support, and increase awareness for the work they do around the world,” shares Jonas.
We’re excited to see how these bridges connect us to people who need hope.