Border Relief began with promise to God

HARLINGEN - Border Relief began as a one-man operation.

Frank Ferree, a World War I doughboy (soldier), prayed in the middle of the Battle of the Argonne Forest, promising God he would devote his life to helping others if only his life would be spared.

The 6-foot, 6-inch Ferree grew up in Nebraska, where his father owned a weekly newspaper, journalist Bill Starr wrote in his book, "Border Angel," published in 1979.

After the war, Ferree bought and sold land in Colorado, California and Wisconsin, worked as a ranch hand, delivered mail on horseback, repaired telephone lines and owned a service station.

Although he didn't attend church, Ferree was deeply interested in the Bible.

Eventually he came to the Rio Grande Valley and bought 23 acres north of Harlingen, planning to grow citrus, Starr wrote.

The muscular Army veteran also opened a massage studio in his home and tried to sell subdivision lots on his land.

But he began spending the money from land sales to help the poor and eventually devoted work full-time to helping the poor on both sides of the Rio Grande.

At first, he just wandered through the poorest barrios with a sack of oranges and bread, but his charity evolved into a fleet of old trucks and buses and had recruited volunteers to help him make regular runs to Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, carrying donated food to the poor.

Ferree, who was often called the "Border Angel," persuaded grocery stores, bakeries, packing sheds and citrus canneries to donate surplus food. He would even climb into trash bins behind stores and restaurants to look for usable food to distribute.

Because he wore castoff clothing and lived as cheaply as possible, many people thought Ferree was just a bum.

But, near the end of his life, he was twice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and was given the Volunteer Action Award by President Reagan.

When Ferree died in 1983, Harlingen leaders gave him a large funeral. City fathers granted permission for him to be buried in the front lawn of his home on North Seventh Street.

Cameron County named the central jury room in his honor and placed his portrait in the lobby of the courthouse in Brownsville.

Ferree had brought a few orphans back to Harlingen to live in his home and help him with his work. When his health was failing, he persuaded one of those orphans, Roberto Rodriguez, to take charge of the deliveries, to make it his life's work.

Rodriguez and Dianne Hurman are among a handful of volunteers who are keeping Frank Ferree Border Relief alive at a time when it is needed more than ever.

So is Hurman's husband Chuck, a New Jersey native who retired after 23 years in the Navy and a stint working at an Army Depot at Corpus Christi.

Border Relief relies on Harlingen-area business owners such as Frank Boggus, who took up the challenge of supporting the group from fellow auto dealer Luther Elliff.

The business owners help with fund-raising and Boggus still helps repair donated vehicles.

There are now modern vans in good condition, but in the past, Border Relief/Ayuda Fronteriza was painted on old city buses, second-hand delivery vans or any vehicle that could make the trip.