Bob Waldrop and the Power of a Billboard

“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil by doing good.” Romans 12:21

Oklahoma City after the April 1995 bombing of the Murrah building was a raw and hurting place. Cars drove with headlights on in remembrance for at least a month. Flags flew at half staff. Funeral processions were a common sight. If you did not lose someone dear, you knew someone who did.

To this day, no one knows who paid for the billboards with the above Bible quote from Romans that were seen all over the city in the aftermath of the bombing. It was at once an anonymous and public way to counteract the evil that touched our city. It also touched Bob Waldrop in a deep way; a way that has reverberated through the years and is part of the history of this parish’s hunger ministry, the Dorothy Day Center.

Inspired by the billboard and with years of activism behind him, Bob founded the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in 1999. He noticed one overlooked group — those who could not reach their local food pantry due to illness, old age, no or poor access to transportation.

It began small at first, making half a dozen deliveries monthly. Then there were ten, two dozen and by 2005, 100 a month. All this was done from Bob’s home, although once there were 40 deliveries a month, they had to bag groceries outside on the sidewalk.

Then came a crisis because all the food had been donated or bought at retail. The needs were outstripping the supply. Marcus Evans told his friend Bob about plans for the Dorothy Day Center, organized by Evans and a small group of St. Charles parishioners. This was an answer to a prayer and a partnership was born. With access to the Regional Food Bank, made possible by generous supporters in the parish and elsewhere, today a group of volunteers makes about 400 deliveries and provides food for 1,000 people monthly, Mondays through Fridays and the third and fourth Saturdays of each month.

In 2005, the Dorothy Day Center was built. From 2005, until his death in 2019, Bob Waldrop coordinated the Saturday deliveries which reached hundreds of households in dire need of food in Oklahoma City. He made lists of foods, drew up maps, led everyone in prayer and made deliveries. He said he had listened to thousands of telephone calls for help through his telephone hunger helpline but he never tired of helping people.

Bob was born in Frederick, Oklahoma in 1952, a fourth generation Oklahoman from a farm family. He was the music director at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church. He founded the Oklahoma Food Cooperative and was a passionate promoter of gardening and sustainable living. He was a gifted writer, musician and voice for quality of life for all people.

Thanks, Bob, for your service to humanity, your creativity, your tirelessness, your strong opinions and sense of justice and fairness, your enthusiasm for sharing them and the inspiration you provided all of us with the example of living out your faith journey with passion and purpose. May you rest in peace and rise in glory.

you did not lose someone dear, you knew someone who did.

To this day, no one knows who paid for the billboards with the above Bible quote from Romans that were seen all over the city in the aftermath of the bombing. It was at once an anonymous and public way to counteract the evil that touched our city. It also touched Bob Waldrop in a deep way; a way that has reverberated through the years and is part of the history of this parish’s hunger ministry, the Dorothy Day Center.

Inspired by the billboard and with years of activism behind him, Bob founded the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in 1999. He noticed one overlooked group — those who could not reach their local food pantry due to illness, old age, no or poor access to transportation.

It began small at first, making half a dozen deliveries monthly. Then there were ten, two dozen and by 2005, 100 a month. All this was done from Bob’s home, although once there were 40 deliveries a month, they had to bag groceries outside on the sidewalk.

Then came a crisis because all the food had been donated or bought at retail. The needs were outstripping the supply. Marcus Evans told his friend Bob about plans for the Dorothy Day Center, organized by Evans and a small group of St. Charles parishioners. This was an answer to a prayer and a partnership was born. With access to the Regional Food Bank, made possible by generous supporters in the parish and elsewhere, today a group of volunteers makes about 400 deliveries and provides food for 1,000 people monthly, Mondays through Fridays and the third and fourth Saturdays of each month.

In 2005, the Dorothy Day Center was built. From 2005, until his death in 2019, Bob Waldrop coordinated the Saturday deliveries which reached hundreds of households in dire need of food in Oklahoma City. He made lists of foods, drew up maps, led everyone in prayer and made deliveries. He said he had listened to thousands of telephone calls for help through his telephone hunger helpline but he never tired of helping people.

Bob was born in Frederick, Oklahoma in 1952, a fourth generation Oklahoman from a farm family. He was the music director at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church. He founded the Oklahoma Food Cooperative and was a passionate promoter of gardening and sustainable living. He was a gifted writer, musician and voice for quality of life for all people.

Thanks, Bob, for your service to humanity, your creativity, your tirelessness, your strong opinions and sense of justice and fairness, your enthusiasm for sharing them and the inspiration you provided all of us with the example of living out your faith journey with passion and purpose. May you rest in peace and rise in glory. Bob Waldrop and the Power of a Billboard

“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil by doing good.” Romans 12:21

Oklahoma City after the April 1995 bombing of the Murrah building was a raw and hurting place. Cars drove with headlights on in remembrance for at least a month. Flags flew at half staff. Funeral processions were a common sight. If you did not lose someone dear, you knew someone who did.

To this day, no one knows who paid for the billboards with the above Bible quote from Romans that were seen all over the city in the aftermath of the bombing. It was at once an anonymous and public way to counteract the evil that touched our city. It also touched Bob Waldrop in a deep way; a way that has reverberated through the years and is part of the history of this parish’s hunger ministry, the Dorothy Day Center.

Inspired by the billboard and with years of activism behind him, Bob founded the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in 1999. He noticed one overlooked group — those who could not reach their local food pantry due to illness, old age, no or poor access to transportation.

It began small at first, making half a dozen deliveries monthly. Then there were ten, two dozen and by 2005, 100 a month. All this was done from Bob’s home, although once there were 40 deliveries a month, they had to bag groceries outside on the sidewalk.

Then came a crisis because all the food had been donated or bought at retail. The needs were outstripping the supply. Marcus Evans told his friend Bob about plans for the Dorothy Day Center, organized by Evans and a small group of St. Charles parishioners. This was an answer to a prayer and a partnership was born. With access to the Regional Food Bank, made possible by generous supporters in the parish and elsewhere, today a group of volunteers makes about 400 deliveries and provides food for 1,000 people monthly, Mondays through Fridays and the third and fourth Saturdays of each month.

In 2005, the Dorothy Day Center was built. From 2005, until his death in 2019, Bob Waldrop coordinated the Saturday deliveries which reached hundreds of households in dire need of food in Oklahoma City. He made lists of foods, drew up maps, led everyone in prayer and made deliveries. He said he had listened to thousands of telephone calls for help through his telephone hunger helpline but he never tired of helping people.

Bob was born in Frederick, Oklahoma in 1952, a fourth generation Oklahoman from a farm family. He was the music director at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church. He founded the Oklahoma Food Cooperative and was a passionate promoter of gardening and sustainable living. He was a gifted writer, musician and voice for quality of life for all people.

Thanks, Bob, for your service to humanity, your creativity, your tirelessness, your strong opinions and sense of justice and fairness, your enthusiasm for sharing them and the inspiration you provided all of us with the example of living out your faith journey with passion and purpose. May you rest in peace and rise in glory.