Making a Lot of Friends Indeed

Looking back on his seven years of leadership, retiring Friends in Deed Board Chair Richard Cheung has learned a few things about management. 

As he told Pasadena Now in a recent interview, “When you lead an organization, make sure you surround yourself with talented people and smarter people than you. Learn that the organization is constantly ebbing and flowing.”

As their website notes, Friends in Deed is an interfaith organization that provides supportive services to meet basic human needs, so that homeless and at-risk neighbors can rebuild their lives.

Cheung pointed out that when he first began his work with Friends In Deed in 2013, times were rough, and the group was in near-danger of folding.

“They were one of these nonprofits in Pasadena that may not have made it,” Cheung said, “(but not for) all the years of slowly recruiting good board members and dedicated staff,  volunteers and executive directors along with community partners, foundations, businesses, and the faith-based community. I am grateful for the commitment from everyone involved to right this ship.”

Cheung continued, “Not only did we pull ourselves out from being another statistic, but we are an organization that has sustained and now poised for immediate growth to impact more clients. And more importantly, especially during this pandemic, we are serving so many more of our most vulnerable neighbors. It’s an exciting time for me to leave in one sense, but sad that we are serving so many people right now.”

Cheung can also point to the tangible growth of the organization under his leadership, pointing out that when he began his association with Friends in Deed, the group’s budget was “around $350,000,” and they are now a $1.2 million organization.

“We had six or seven staff back then,” Cheung recalled, “and now, (Executive Director) Rabbi Joshua Grater has grown the staff to probably close to 20. So it’s been an amazing journey to say the least.”

Cheung is also equally confident of the future as he is of the group’s past.

“The future is going to be well taken care of by the next board president, our board treasurer, Bret Schaefer,” said Cheung. 

“Bret will do an amazing job and comes from a very strong finance background and very strategic thinking. Our executive director has done a great job managing the pandemic and also navigating with our staff where we can still provide services such as the Food Pantry, as well as The Women’s Room.” 

Cheung also noted that while Friends in Deed is unable to operate its bad weather shelter this year, the group has “a really good plan B, to distribute clothing and food and some emergency needs and then try to get some of our homeless population into motels, during this time as we’ve been supported by the city of Pasadena.”

Finally, Cheung emphasized his gratitude to the board of directors and staff, saying, “I’m very proud of what everyone has done. And again, I’m humbled, honored and privileged to have served in the role that I have the past seven years. Truly this was a concerted team effort.”