Richard Bonds’ first experience with The Salvation Army was in 1987, when he had just started serving his time at the detention centre in Hamilton, Ont., awaiting trial.

“I was visited by a Salvation Army pastor,” he says. “He was an older gentleman, and his smile just lit up the cellblock.

“The Sunshine Bags came my first Christmas inside, and every year after that,” he says, remembering the small bag of items and treats distributed by The Salvation Army. “Often, it was the only thing I got at Christmas. They reminded me that I still possessed some human value, and they always meant a great deal to me.

“Little did I know that three decades later, I would go from receiving them to creating them to being in charge of distributing them!”

“Bad Choices”

The middle child of nine whose family came from Gaspe, Que., Richard had a troubled childhood.

“I had a lot of emotional and identity issues growing up,” he says now. “I projected to cover the pain. I became the class clown, the loudest one in the house, the loudest one in the school. I stood out in the wrong way.”

By nature, Richard had a good heart, “but my heart wasn’t the trouble. I just couldn’t handle alcohol. So when I drank, I made bad choices, and when I made bad choices, I acted on those bad choices because, at the time, I didn’t know better.”

Richard served more than 32 years in prison—more than half of his life—and among other offences was convicted of second-degree murder.

“Wonderful Journey”

While at an AA meeting, Richard met a member of The Salvation Army. She shared with him that she attended a Salvation Army church in Kingston, Ont. He asked the prison authorities if he could attend, and his request was granted.

As it happens, that week’s service was one the church held every year dedicated to restorative justice.

“I live in a Salvation Army halfway house. I work at a Salvation Army warehouse. How can I go wrong?“ RICHARD BONDS

Richard was invited to sing three hymns to open the service.

“I felt extremely welcomed, and so that began my wonderful journey with The Salvation Army.”

From Part Time to Full Time

After obtaining permission to attend church services on a weekly basis, Richard started volunteering at the Salvation Army thrift store on Bath Street in Kingston, and then at the Salvation Army church on Alfred Street.

“At the thrift store, my tasks were sorting donations, separating good from the bad,” he explains. “At the church, I was responsible for bagging groceries for singles, single family and full households.

“I enjoyed every minute of it!” Richard says.

Richard applied for day parole, which was granted in 2021. He met Juliane Martin, a Salvation Army chaplain, when he was released to Bunton Lodge/W.P. Archibald Adult Resource Centre in Toronto, a halfway facility for ex-offenders.

“She’s a blessing to the institution, and to me,” explains Richard, “because that December she arranged for me to do volunteer work at the Army’s distribution facility on Railside Road in Toronto.”

While there, he became acquainted with the staff, the warehouse workers, manager and director.

The expectation was for Richard to work at Railside twice a week for three hours a day.

“What if I wanted to work five days a week?” Richard asked.

“Well, we’re not going to stop you,” the management replied, smiling.

So Richard did just that.

Proving Himself

After a couple of months, management realized that Richard was an asset to the warehouse and loved working there, so in April 2023, Major Chris Rideout, divisional secretary mission resources, asked him if he was interested in becoming part of the staff.

“I’ve never regretted my decision to start working there,” says Richard. “I asked Major Chris to give me an opportunity to prove myself. And he did exactly that.”

“Rick is an extremely happy and grateful individual,” says Major Chris. “He’s always happy to greet you and tell you what is happening in his life. He’s an all-round good guy.”

As a warehouse worker, Richard supervises the food production area. He also deals with the donations that come in.

“I went from being a volunteer to supervising volunteers every day. And from receiving Sunshine Bags to assembling and distributing them. My life had gone full circle!”

Never Alone

Richard is always happy to talk about his faith journey. Alice Johansson, the head of volunteer services at the Army’s territorial headquarters in Toronto, found this out recently when she and some of the staff came to Railside to help out.

“Richard was in charge of teaching us how to sort the food items,” she says. “He was so full of joy and took tremendous pride in his work. You could tell his heart and soul were fully into the mission, and when I asked him about his life, he slowly started to open up about his journey of faith.”

“Through my incarceration, loneliness, fear and sin, I learned with the help of God’s people at The Salvation Army that I never stand alone,” Richard replies. “God was and is always with me. The Salvation Army gave me a holy place to worship in and holy people to worship with. To this day, I still feel that safety and love.

“I live in a Salvation Army halfway house. I work at a Salvation Army warehouse,” Richard smiles. “How can I go wrong?”

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