In 2019 married couple John and Kelley Doran fed the homeless at 3 a.m. from their hot dog truck in Bradenton. Since then, their passion for helping those in need has turned into a nonprofit organization called Hands & Feet Outreach Ministry in Port Charlotte with their efforts changing many lives.

“When I was 19 years old, I gave my heart to the Lord, and I just had a burden for the homeless,” John Doran said. “An evangelist came into our church, and she prophesied over me. She said, ‘You're going to be in a missionary. But your mission is not going to be in other countries, your mission is going to be right here in the United States, out in the streets, with the homeless, with the people that have nothing.’ And she was right on.”

At 64, that calling to his heart has led to making a difference in people's lives for 45 years, not only in Florida, but in every state where he has lived — Connecticut, South Carolina and North Carolina.

A year after closing their hot dog truck, the Dorans helped feed the homeless with a nonprofit organization called Freedom Gathering in Bradenton.

They started by feeding 100 people. Before long the number grew to 400.

After three years of helping Freedom Gathering, John and Kelley felt it was time for a new direction.

“I said to Kelly one day, ‘I feel like God's telling me, we're done here. It's time for us to go to our hometown and start feeding the homeless,’” John Doran said.

Every Saturday morning, John and Kelley began taking their truck into the woods of Charlotte County’s formerly known “Carpet Trail” — an unofficial name given to the homeless camp at the intersection of Collingswood Boulevard and Mapledale Avenue.

There, the couple would give away donated Wawa breakfast and hygiene items to anyone living there.

For years, this area was home to more than 60 homeless people. The area's owners wanted them off their land, leaving Charlotte County to figure out what to do for these homeless individuals and families.

“And so because the county had to worry about them, St. Vincent de Paul Society stepped up and said, we will get the grants, and we will help them get leases,” John Doran said.

St. Vincent de Paul Society is a nonprofit organization in Port Charlotte.

“So they started getting them leases and getting the grants, but they didn't have the finances to move them out of the woods, and they didn't have the finances to get them furniture. So that's where Kelly and I joined up with them,” John Doran said.

The couple has furnished 29 donated homes and helped 80 homeless people get off the streets since June 2025. These donations of basic household items, clothing, food, and furniture come from Facebook Marketplace donations, church donations, and connections the couple has with five realtors.

John picks up and delivers furniture five days a week.

“We all make a difference together,” Kelley Doran said. “We're in this ministry, but if it wasn't for the people donating, John and I wouldn't be able to do it either. I mean, it’s just a revolving door.”

John and Kelley have both been retired since 2020. They finance their ministry by making monthly payments on their storage units, where they store all of the donations.

“We know God is in it, because there hasn't been a time we were freaking out that something has to be paid, because God always meets our needs,” Kelley Doran said.

“You can never outgive God because God will just keep giving it back more and more every time,” John Doran said.

Joshua Creasman, 37, is a living testimony of a changed life from Hands & Feet Ministry.

“We (Creasman, his girlfriend, and three kids) were able to get a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment,” Creasman said. “We moved in and we literally, we didn't have nothing and within a week, John completely filled it from one end to the other with furniture.”

John and Kelley’s ministry goes beyond just furnishing homes; the couple meets with the homeless and those in need multiple times a week.

“That's what it's all about,” Kelley Doran said. “It's about giving to each other. It's not about just expecting people to give to you. It's just reaching out to other people and trying to help. That's all.”

Every Thursday, they set up tables, chairs, tents, and play Christian music in the empty parking lot of the Sonoco gas station on Midway Boulevard in Port Charlotte. With a sign that reads “Free Food,” the couple grills food for anyone in need.

Each time, they bring their trailer full of donated items to set up on tables where anyone can go and grab what they need for themselves and their families.

Seven nights a week, the couple, along with a few of their friends, deliver leftover pizza from Sbarro’s Pizza to a local woods surrounding the nonprofit called “Jesus Loves You,” where homeless people live.

Every Saturday morning, the couple goes to these same woods with donated Wawa breakfast and hygiene items.

“We love what we do, and we don't just do it once in a while. We do it every day of the week,” John Doran said.

John and Kelley also offer prayer for these individuals, because their love for God has been their anchor in their ministry.

“We keep wanting to pour out our love for God, because we know what life was without God, and now we know what life is with God, and that's what they need,” Kelley Doran said. “If you want something different, you've got to do something different. God's got a purpose, you know, so that's what we're trying to instill in them.”

The weekly visits and deep moments shared in prayer create a community of hope. Hope that the homeless know there are people who care for their well-being and want to help them.

“We're all like family, because we see them just about every day,” John Doran said. “They all know me, they hug me, and I know all of them all by their names.”

Creasman said that since moving to Florida three years ago, he has had no family in the area. John and Kelley have become that for him.

He now helps them feed the homeless every Thursday night and helps move the donated furniture in and out of homes with John. John has brought Creasman to church many times, and on a recent Sunday, Creasman gave his life to Jesus in baptism.

“They're great people,” Creasman said. “Don't be afraid to ask them for anything you need or anything you need help with. They don't judge, they've been there before, they know how it is. And if they can help in any way, they're going to go out of their way to make it happen. I have no words… no words to possibly thank them enough.”

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