Get to Know Greg Hulsey
Vestavia Hills resident Greg Hulsey, director of practice analysis and improvement for Children’s of Alabama, is on a journey to complete one 5K each month to raise funds for a December 2013 mission trip with Forgotten Children Ministries. Learn more about his story below.
Tell us about yourself.
My wife Tara and I moved to Birmingham 19 years ago right after we married for me to start graduate school at UAB. After having children, we knew that we wanted them to be in the Vestavia school system, so we moved to Vestavia six and half years ago. Tara is the second grade para-educator at West Elementary, and we have two daughters. Ainsley, 9, is a fourth grader at Central, and Haley, 7, is a second grader at West. I am a member of the Vestavia Hills Sunrise Rotary Club and am a 2009 graduate of Leadership Vestavia Hills.
How did you first learn about Forgotten Children Ministries (FCM)? How did you ultimately plug into the organization?
My church, Dawson Memorial Baptist, has many individuals who are actively involved with FCM. We were impressed with the mission of FCM to take in children who were living unattended on the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and to provide them with food, clothing, shelter, education and, most importantly, love. We first began to support the mission financially, and then after hearing more and more stories of people going on mission trips there, I decided to go on my first trip to Honduras last December.
Why did you gravitate to funding the mission through races?
Through a wellness class at my church in 2012, I ran my first ever 5K. I ended up doing two more 5K runs that year and knew that it was something that I wanted to continue doing. After getting back from my mission trip in December, I knew that I wanted to go back on another trip, and I began planning on how to do so. As I prayed about it, God laid on my heart to raise money for another trip by committing to running one race a month and to ask people to sponsor me financially for each mile I run.
This has been a great motivator for me as running is something that does not come easy for me. I certainly do not have the look or the physical build of what you think of as a runner, so I have to work hard to train and be able to compete. But as I have gained endurance, I think I’ve surprised some people along the way by performing better than they probably assumed that I could.
To date I have completed nine 5K runs, most recently the Monkey C Monkey Run for Camp Smile A Mile. I have decided to run my first ever 10K, the Vulcan Run, this November, and I started a formal training program in September to help prepare for this run.
Your strategy is unusual. How do people respond to what you are doing and why you are doing it?
The response has been very positive. I’ve had several people tell me that they are proud of me not only for what I’m doing with the goal of a mission trip but also for how I’m attempting to do it by running this many races. More than one person has told me that they’re not sure they could do what I’m attempting. Of course, my answer is that if I can do this, anyone can.
The needs you see on these mission trips are great. How do you feel you are really making an impact on such pervasive problems?
Each trip is a little different, depending on who is leading it. On my trip last December one of the main objectives was to take the boys and girls living in the FCM shelters Christmas shopping with money from the ministry and from their individual sponsors. I think I actually spent more time in malls during those five days than I had here in Birmingham for the past five years.
But we also did ministry for other people. At nights we would pack one pound bags of dry rice and beans, as well as Christmas bags of candy and toys. One day we went to a state-run orphanage, where we played, sang and danced with the kids there. We handed out the Christmas bags to the kids and bags of rice and beans to the staff.
Our last full day we went to a garbage dump outside of town, where many people live as they spend the day rummaging through the garbage in search of food and any materials they can find for daily living. Here we again gave out gifts to the children and rice and beans to the adults. At each event, a minister (speaking through an interpreter) preached a very simple but effective message on eternal salvation through Christ.
Did I make a difference? I don’t know. I just did simple things – handed out beans and rice and toys, gave people hugs and told them they were loved. I just did my part and let God take care of the rest.
One special part of the trip for me was on one of the nights we took the ministry kids shopping in one of the malls. I got paired up with a little girl named Nataly to help her shop. After our time shopping, she was so proud, and I think I impressed all of the ladies on our trip with my fashion sense.
I sent pictures of Nataly back to my wife and daughters, and we all agreed that we wanted to help sponsor her. So we now send a financial contribution each month to help cover her living expenditures in the shelter, and then also send her gifts, notes and photos of us on occasion. This sponsorship, and our relationship with Nataly, has helped make the ministry seem more “real” to our family.
To donate to Greg's cause, go to: http://www.gofundme.com/3hx66g