When Charles Lark traveled to downtown Raleigh to grab a meal at a soup kitchen last June, he was  attacked by a racist wielding a metal rod.

Despite his string of misfortune, Lark, who works as a cook for University Dining, has been able to maintain a positive attitude, gaining him fans from both students and staff who appreciate his cooking and love of life.

Kicked while he was down

When students leave for the summer, many University Dining workers are forced to look for work elsewhere. It is a matter of economy — without students the school can’t afford workers. Last summer, Lark happened to be one of those workers.

Without a job, Lark travelled room-to-room. He stayed with friends most nights, but when he needed food, the accomplished cook had to look to charity.

As he was leaving a soup kitchen near Moore Square on June 7, a man shouted at him from the city park.

The shouting man was Jonathan Wayne Meadows, a homeless 26-year-old white man. He approached Lark, a 52-year-old black man.

“First, [Meadows] came up to me and said ‘You’re a n***** and I’m going to kill you,’” Lark said. “I said, ‘Well then shoot me.’ So he looked at me and he whipped out the pipe.

Meadows severed half of Lark’s left ear, put a lash in his head and fractured his elbow. After fighting off his attacker, Lark said he ran after Meadows, who then began to shout for help.

Lark said Meadows’ girlfriend, a black woman, approached him to help after the attack. An EMS vehicle took Lark to a hospital, where he got stitches for his ear injury. Police arrested Meadows that day. He was later convicted for assault and sentenced to three years in prison.

Without a job, a home or  health insurance, an injured Lark had difficulty finding anyone to listen to his story. 

“Nobody was able to say ‘Hey, how are you? Here’s a helping hand,’” Lark said.

Lark said he went to WRAL and ABC 11 to tell his story following the attack. Both stations told him the story, if picked up, would take 10 days to process. Neither reported on the attack.

“If it happened on campus then it would have been breaking news, but it happened downtown and a homeless guy hit me, and I was — not homeless, but semi-homeless — I was transient, so I guess that kind of annulled it.”

Paying it forward

Lark said his father would oftentimes tell him to not get involved in anything unless he could help another human being by doing it. Lark found a way to help by returning to University Dining as a cook. 

More than anything, Lark said he likes the idea that he can make a difference in a person’s day.

“I always greet [guests] with a nice ‘How do you do?’ and I smile, say, ‘Have a great day,’” Lark said. “I know it’s helping patrons, other people, other human beings.”

Taylor Cook, a sophomore in biomedical engineering, said she goes to Clark Dining Hall about three times a week for breakfast. Cook said she heads to the omelet station, where Lark works, during every visit for food and a conversation.

“I always get [an omelet], and they are always the best because Charles Lark makes them,” Cook said

Cook created a Facebook fan page for Lark in March. She said the idea came to her on the way back from Clark one day after being encouraged by Lark’s kind words and his omelet. 

“He’s just so likeable, he’s just the kind of guy I could sit and talk to for hours,” Cook said.

Cook isn’t the only person who enjoys talking with Lark. Thirty-five other users liked the Facebook page to declare two things: that Charles Lark will make the best omelet you have ever eaten and that he will also make your day.

Cook said although she speaks with Lark several times a week, she wasn’t aware of the assault.

“We’ve had so many conversations and he just doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would complain about anything,” Cook said.

Lark said the page flattered him when he first heard about it.

“I think it’s great,” Lark said. “Honestly, I’m in a state of shock, I don’t know how else to say it.”

Drew Connor, a sophomore in psychology, said he typically goes to Clark three times a day. He said Lark’s company isn’t the only thing that keeps him in the food line.

“I’ll come in and ask for an omelet with extra cheese and he’ll do Ricotta cheese, he’ll explain how this is better than the other way.” Connor said. “He talks about places he’s cooked before and he’ll tell interesting stories.”

In 1989, he walked from his hometown in Brooklyn to Washington D.C. to join tens of thousands of people in the Housing Now! march to protest the shortage of affordable housing.

In addition to cafeterias in D.C., Lark said he has also cooked in cafeterias of Daily News, in New York, N.Y., the N.C. General Assembly and Meredith College.

Charles said he wants to continue cooking in Raleigh, but as summer approaches, Lark said he is uncertain where the next few months will bring him.

However, many students hope Lark won’t go too far.

“If everybody was like Charles Lark we would all live in a much better world,” Connor said. “A world with friendly people and good omelets.”