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Ray Goodson was one of those young men who happened to be in the right place at the right time and did the right things to help others. After serving a mission for his church for three years in Hong Kong, he was sent to the Philippines for three months as the first missionary there before going home.

Then, 12 years later, he returned with his family to serve as a mission president and continued his love affair with the Philippines and its people.

In November 2013, he and his wife returned to the Philippines. Just a week before they arrived, however, Typhoon Hian hit the Philippines hard, destroying almost everything in its path and leaving hundreds dead.

“We had planned to go to the Philippines and introduce our friends to the Filipino leaders who had befriended us. When we saw the devastation, our plans completely changed. We lived for about four months in the nearly destroyed mission home and began helping with the recovery. We were moving into the Christmas season, and much help was needed,” Goodson said.

He and his wife, Debbie, reached out to some of their former missionaries and asked them to come to the Philippines and help. They came in droves, paying their own way to get there.

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“My wife, Debbie, flew to another island to find food to feed over 60 to 80 former missionaries who heeded the call to return and help,” Goodson said.

The first thing they needed to accomplish was getting food to the people. With the help of many friends from Cebu Island, two semitrucks were packed with 8,000 spaghetti meals for those in need. “We went around to the chapels and handed out these holiday meals to the people, both members and nonmembers,” Goodson said. “Even a Catholic priest donned a ‘helping hands’ T-shirt and handed out food.”

After many volunteers finished building 3,500 plywood houses, the Goodsons met with government officials and church leaders and asked, “What do you need?” The answer was simple: “We need communal bathrooms.”

“That’s what really started the foundation. We began building 17 communal bathrooms with plans to build 60 the next year, 80 the next, and more after that,” Goodson said.

Goodson is president and CEO of the Rise and Rebuild Foundation, an organization he founded in 2014 with his wife. Its mission is to aid the poor and the malnourished in the Philippine Islands.

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Later, the people said the homes that were built were not the type of shelter they needed. “People disliked them because they were like ovens,” Goodson said. “We asked the people what they needed and wanted in a home. Because typhoons happened frequently, we build homes made out of bamboo, not plywood.”

But more needed to be done to improve the lives of impoverished people. “We began to drill potable water wells, and the government gave us permission to drill anywhere we wanted,” Goodson said. “Now entire communities depend on the wells for water.”

In the process of building bathrooms, they discovered that cinder blocks were too weak to support them. “We sent people to Thailand to learn how to make the type of brick we needed,” Goodson said. “They returned and taught us how to build the best bricks, which were made from compressed earth, sand and cement.”

When the Goodsons visited one of the schools near where they were drilling a well, they learned the children had come to school without having eaten anything.

The Rise and Build Foundation introduced “Neighborhood Feeding Centers” under the direction of Sandra Rogers, a former dean of nursing at Brigham Young University and BYU international vice president.

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“Something had to be done. Kids need food to learn,” Debbie Goodson said. “We built the first nutrition center comprised of a kitchen and dining room on the school property.”

Also, the foundation began developing farms that supply needed fresh vegetables to those in need and provide income for local residents. The foundation’s farms provide vegetables and fruits while the government provides protein — pigs, chickens, rabbits and goats — and Filipino mothers volunteer to cook the food.

“Malnutrition is a solvable problem,” Ray Goodson said. “Under Sandra’s direction, we have expanded our neighborhood feeding programs for preschool children and their mothers. We know that nourished children do better in schools, and we wanted to begin early in their lives. We monitor their height and weight monthly and track the progress.”

Next year, the foundation will provide about 4 million meals from four farms located on three different islands. It has more than 60 acres under cultivation where fruits and vegetables are grown.

While the Goodsons were working with the people, they discovered another issue: 60% to 90% of the children have worms. As a result, they began a de-worming project, working with University of Utah doctors to develop a medical plan. A nonprofit organization provides their foundation with de-worming medication, and the local government administers the medication — one pill twice per year.

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Steady employment is a huge benefit for the families that work for the foundation. “We have 300 to 400 employees — carpenters, masons, gardeners and others. They go through a training process because we want them to be trained in our method,” Ray Goodson said. “Filipino colleges are now asking the foundation to help train their people at the foundation’s farms.”

The Goodsons believe they model a good work ethic by providing opportunities to work and teaching the people in a hands-on way with a philosophy of “managed by Filipinos for Filipinos.”

The future looks bright for the Rise and Rebuild Foundation. It plans to convert its typical farms to hydroponics with a goal to be self-sustaining by mid-2025. The development of 24 large-scale, high-tech hydroponic greenhouses will allow the production of high-value crops that can be sold to premium hotels, restaurants and supermarkets as well as continue to feed malnourished children.

The Rise and Build Foundation has made a huge difference in enhancing the living standards of the people in the Philippines. They are enriching and blessing the lives of so many through the generous donations of supportive friends.

“It’s very expensive to be Ray’s friend,” Ray Goodson said. “I have good relations with lots of friends, and I am not ashamed to ask. Some are people I have known since my university days while others are people who suddenly appeared in our paths and wanted to help.”

Overall, Ray and Debbie Goodson have not forgotten their roots in the Philippines. “It has been a very satisfying effort because the savior set the example of being of service. This is our way of being of service and following the savior’s example,” Ray Goodson said. “If we had planned it, it couldn’t have worked out better.”

To help or donate, go to the Rise and Rebuild Foundation website, riseandrebuild.org.

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