Community activist and GU student Rick Clark

May 31, 2018

Community activist, Gonzaga student and formerly homeless Rick Clark will be getting a surprise during a shift at Second Harvest and being recognized for his community work. Family, friends and the GU mascot will be in attendance. He will also be receiving a GU gift basket, backpacks and supplies for his new outreach program.

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Local man helps the homeless with his first Gonzaga tattoo

March 21, 2018

SPOKANE, Wash. — Rick Clark was 44-years-old when he decided he was going back to school. At the time, he was a high school drop-out living in his car. “For a long time I just thought that was the cards that I was dealt was the poverty and the struggle. I realized that with a…

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Spokane man gives car to total stranger in need

February 16, 2018

A Spokane man made it his mission to help those going through some tough times. Rick Clark has helped out in more ways than some people could ever try to. Friday, he helped gift a new car to two people. It all started when residents approached Clark about spare cars they had and they wanted…

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How backpacks and a bus ride changed Rick Clark’s life

December 24, 2017

Big changes can be sparked by small choices. Rick Clark, 46, dropped out of high school 28 years ago. He’d been homeless and had lived on welfare. After years of barely scraping out a living, Clark wanted something better. “I decided a couple years ago I was done having that define me,” Clark said. The…

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Student Offers Backpacks of Hope to Homeless

October 17, 2017

SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga’s Jesuit ethos embraces a commitment to human dignity and solidarity with the poor and vulnerable. Rick Clark, 46, a junior in his first semester at Gonzaga, knows poverty firsthand. Formerly homeless, Clark launched the outreach program Giving Back Packs to help the down-and-out in Spokane, where he was born and raised.…

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Building Bright Futures, Fall 2017 Newsletter

September 1, 2017

Rick Clark’s journey to being a transfer student at Gonzaga University is an unlikely one, but then again, much about Rick’s life has been unlikely. After growing up in poverty and occasional homelessness, surrounded by addiction and abuse, Rick dropped out of high school. He spent years working entry-level jobs, surviving paycheck to paycheck in…

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Spokane man ‘Giving Backpacks’ to help homeless community

June 28, 2017

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane man has set out to help the homeless in the community, one backpack at a time. Rick Clark created “Giving Backpacks” and has been filling and handing them out to the homeless for two years now. “You don’t know what just a handshake is going to do or even a…

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Helping the homeless: Car wash benefits Giving Backpacks program

April 17, 2017

In the back parking lot of Zips at Division and Hawthorne, Rick Clark hosted a car wash Sunday to help the homeless. “(I) just (wanted to) show some of the people that need love the most there’s a community out there that cares about them,” said Clark. Even with a car wash company right next…

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Spokane man encouraging kindness following House of Charity shooting

April 30, 2016

After one Spokane man heard about a homeless man being shot and killed by police just a block away from the House of Charity, he is encouraging compassion. Rick Clark works often with the homeless population, giving out backpacks and toiletries. It’s a cause close to his heart. “It was something that’s part of me. So when…

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