Hero-Anon: Richard Kuhn

In 1984, Agenda SOS - in collaboration with Abbe Pierre, founder of Emmaus International, established the second Emmaus Community in the USA in a Virginia suburb of Washington, DC. Richard Kuhn was one of the founding residents of the community, which was called: "Raven Project".

Within a year of opening we had put together the largest clothes bank in the Washington area, and one of the largest food banks. Richard directed the collection of food from Northern Virginia super markets and delivered it in his pickup truck to our own soup kitchen (and free clothing store) on 9th Street, NW, DC, and to a number of established charities throughout Washington.
In September 1985 a huge earthquake struck Mexico. The directors of Raven project went to work raising trainloads of relief supplies and building materials. Then they went in person to direct the relief efforts at Ciudad Guzman, a Mexican city of 90 thousand which was 60% destroyed in the earthquake. Our reason for going down to Guzman was that all the supplies we raised were diverted to Mexico City, and very little was reaching ruined cities in the rest of the country.
Our work in Mexiico took us away from Raven House for some years. During this time Richard continued on his own initiative: collecting and delivering approximately one tonne of food stuff every week. When his truck wore out, he raised the funds to buy another. And some years later, another. Over time Richard wore out and funded the purchase of four more pickup trucks, and carried on providing noushment to the poorest inhabitants of Washington.
In the Spring of 2022, Richard contacted a Co-founder of Agenda SOS, still living in Washington, and gave her a detailed account of his 37 years of service. All of us, still alive, remembered well dear Richard Kuhn, our dedicated house mate and sojourner in a wonderful cause, but none was aware that Richard has been out there all these years, fathfully keeping a promise he made to Washington's poor in 1984. When word of this got around, most of us teared up.
Just imagine, Raven House; with its principal leader (from Agenda SOS) away in Mexico: the house eventually closes in the late 1980s. But Richard, singleminded in his goals, at first sleeps in his truck, and later finds rent-assisted accommodation. All the while working completely alone, acquiring and delivering much of the food served at some of Washington's most needed soup kitchens: 'Mother Dear's' 'Mary House' and several others. Over the past 37 years Richard has provided nearly 2,000 tonnes of food to poor people in Washington's neighbourhoods and barrios. And he is still doing this: day after day, week upon week.

Our HERO, Richard Kuhn (10/11/2022).