By Jamie Strickland
Empower through mentorship, feed the community, mentor our youth and build a more inclusive future. These simple, yet powerful concepts are the key tenets behind One Blood Movement of Unity, a Clayton-based nonprofit founded 10 years ago by Fred Foreman Sr.
Foreman’s efforts have undoubtedly touched thousands of lives over the years — whether by offering the simple comfort of a nourishing meal or by guiding individuals through deeply personal transformations.
A humanitarian, mentor, advocate and coach, Foreman is being recognized this year as the recipient of the Johnston Now Honors Exemplary Volunteer Award.
Affectionately known throughout the Clayton community as “Coach Fred,” Foreman makes it his business — literally and figuratively — to guide struggling youth and help individuals of all ages to unlock their full potential.
Professionally, he is building his own business as a credentialed life coach with a degree in psychology. He specializes in men’s coaching, fatherhood guidance, marriage coaching, youth mentorship and motivational speaking. He’s pursuing a master’s degree in advanced psychology to deepen his knowledge in the field of mental health.
His true passion lies in his nonprofit organization — which he supports through his life coaching career, donations, and his popular barbecue plate fundraisers.
“One Blood Movement of Unity is designed to bring people back to the understanding that we are all God’s children. To really unify all ethnicities and bring awareness that we have more similarities than we do differences,” he said. “I believe if you love yourself and understand yourself completely, you can understand and love anyone else. That’s the foundation.
“What we do is mentor to youth. I feel like the way to eradicate hate and be relieved from mental blocks is to teach our youth how to love themselves and understand themselves and to be proud of themselves for exactly who they are. If we can start them at an early age, then they’ll be able to reject the poison that was instilled into me and you. I truly believe in building up children. If we can build them up in that way, I think the world will eventually become a more hate-free place.”
Foreman’s drive to create such an organization was shaped from a pivotal experience in his own childhood when he moved to a new school at five or six years old.
“When I moved to Johnston County 40 or so years ago, there was not a lot of black people, so I was in culture shock mode, like ok, how does this work? I came into the class, the teacher was nice, the kids were nice and everybody was cool,” he said. “The teacher had all of the crayons and notebooks out on the desk…so for me, to break the ice, I put the crayons in my sleeve and I called the teacher over and said ‘Hey, I don’t have my crayons!’ I was playing a joke on her. So she came over and she was searching for them and I tapped her on the shoulder and I said ‘are you looking for these?’ Initially she turned around with a huge smile on her face and was like ‘you little jokester!’ There was three little young white ladies beside me, and they yelled out ‘that’s stealing!’ And that broke me. And then the teacher who was smiling at me at first looked at me and said ‘we don’t do that here boy.’
“And I never, from then on, I never wanted a child or anyone to feel like they didn’t belong. Because that did something to me inside…that’s what set the mark. I never wanted anyone to feel like they didn’t belong in any space.”
One of the ways Foreman strives to bring people together and foster a sense of belonging is through sharing food. His organization, its board of directors and dozens of other volunteers spent last Thanksgiving preparing and delivering 5,000 plates to the homeless and the needy.
“I don’t care who you are or where you’re from…if you put food on the table, you have unity. That’s the common language. Wherever you put food, people are going to flock,” he said.
One Blood started feeding people for Thanksgiving 10 years ago with just Foreman and his wife preparing food for four families. Since then, the event has grown exponentially.
“We’ve been tremendously blessed and I have a good strong board and a good strong team and a lot of volunteers come through and we’ve been feeding over 5,000 for the past two years,” he said.
The staging area for serving the food has been New Generation Christian Church in Wilson’s Mills for the past several years, but this year it will move to Fellowship Baptist Church in Clayton because of the need for more space.
“The goal this year is to do 10,000. That’s the 10th anniversary and it’s my wedding anniversary on that particular day, 24 years,” he said. “So that’s the number I told my board I wanted to try for.”
This year’s event will be a combination of delivering plates to people in need where they are, and bringing people into the church’s large gym to feed and minister to them.
While feeding thousands at Thanksgiving is one of the most visible parts of his nonprofit’s impact, its mission goes far beyond the holiday season. Drawing on his 22 years of experience as a football coach, including time at Corinth Holders High School, he also holds youth football camps and mentorship programs that use sports as a tool to guide and inspire the next generation.
Whether through a warm meal, a word of encouragement, or a life lesson learned on the field, Foreman continues to pour his heart into bringing people together — one life, one moment and one act of service at a time.
