126 S. Main Street, PO Box 595, Waynesburg, Ohio 44688

Helping Hands will once again be collecting Easter Candy for our children up until Thursday, April 4, 2019.  Candy can be dropped off at HHN any Tues-Wed-Thurs between 9 and 2:30.  Candy will be bagged on April 9 and then passed out to our families.  Thank you in advance for your kind and generous support!  Sincerely, Becky

TOOTHBRUSHES AND TOOTHPASTE COLLECTED TO BENEFIT HHN

Centenary United Methodist Church recently held a “Snoopy” Toothbrush competition between Pastor Linda Slutz and the children of Centenary.  The competition to collect the most toothbrushes and toothpaste was held during the “dental health” month of February with the winner enjoying ice cream at the celebration luncheon.  Pastor Linda collected 508 toothbrushes and the children narrowly beat her in a last minute surge by collecting 632!  The 1140 toothbrushes and toothpaste were donated to Helping Hands Network and will be passed along starting in March.  Helping Hands is so grateful for the opportunity to provide these items that will promote dental health for our families.  Thank you to the entire Centenary church congregation for their support of this outreach program!

Once again Helping Hands will be participating in the Acme Fresh Market Stores Community Cash back Program. We need your help in collecting Acme Fresh Market receipts dated between August 9, 2018 and December 29, 2018. When you purchase Acme store brand items we receive 5% back through this program. Receipts may be dropped off at Helping Hands any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 9 and 2:30, or mailed to Helping Hands, PO Box 595, Waynesburg, OH 44688. Thank you in advance for your support of HHN through this program!

Helping Hands has begun to prepare for the 2018-19 school year. Last year our community provided supplies to 169 children. We are in need of the following supplies this year:(Please note: this list is based on what the school requests the children have. For example, the Ticonderoga pencils are more expensive but they are easier to hold for younger children.)

BOOK BAGS
8 OZ ELMER’S SCHOOL GLUE
GLUE STICKS
#2 TICONDEROGA PENCILS
CRAYOLA WASHABLE MARKERS pack of 10
2 POCKET FOLDERS*(red, yellow, blue, green or purple)
YELLOW HIGHLIGHTERS
FISKAR TYPE SCHOOL SCISSORS
LARGE PINK ERASERS
ZIPPER PENCIL POUCH
WIDE RULED LOOSE LEAF PAPER
COLLEGE RULED LOOSE LEAF PAPER
UNLINED INDEX CARDS
12 PACK CRAYOLA COLORED PENCILS
WIDE RULED SPIRAL BOUND 1 SUBJECT NOTEBOOKS (red, yellow, blue, green, purple)
COLLEGE RULED SPIRAL BOUND 1 SUBJECT NOTEBOOKS
CAP ERASERS

WIDE RULES COMPOSITIONBOOKS

BLUE OR BLACK PENS

WE ARE ALSO IN NEED OF BROWN PAPER GROCERY BAGS TO PACK SUPPLIES

School supplies may be dropped off at Helping Hands any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 9 and 2:30. In order to prepare the supplies for distribution please have them to HHN by August 7th.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY:
We need….
Volunteers on August 7 and 8 to organize supplies for packing 9-11:30
Volunteers on August 9 to pack up the supplies 9-11:00 AM
Volunteers on August 14-15 and 16 to pass out the supplies between 9-11:30 and 1-2:30.

As always, we are SO APPRECIATIIVE of the generous support from our community. Thank you for helping our children prepare for learning this school year. If you would like to volunteer or if you have any questions please do not hesitate to call me at 330-866-2005.

How were your holidays? That is the question of the recent past as we resume schedules and start the new year. Our holidays at Helping Hands were extraordinary! During the months of November and December Helping Hands THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF OUR COMMUNITY provided (in part) the following food items to our neighbors in need:
• 5946 cans of vegetables
• 3161 cans of fruit
• 5440 pounds of fresh potatoes
• 544 jars of peanut butter
• 200 pounds of fresh cabbage
• 384 pounds of fresh carrots
• 424 pounds of fresh apples
• 144 pounds of fresh onions
• 276 turkeys
• 268 hams
Community support through donations of money, food and time provides ALL of this. When you look at what Helping Hands is able to do because of our community it is truly humbling. THANK YOU SANDY VALLEY COMMUNITY FOR CARING FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS IN NEED THROUGH HELPING HANDS NETWORK.

THANK YOU to the following local businesses, churches and individuals who supported our ANNUAL FALL FUNDRAISER. We raised $2333.23 to put toward our mission of alleviating hunger in the Sandy Valley Community.

Helping Hands is currently providing OVER 13,000 meals EVERY month to our families. We currently serve an average of 692 individuals each month in an average of 214 families. This is a 9 per cent increase over 2016.

During the first three quarters of 2017 Helping Hands provided 159,294.7 pounds of food, including 25,511.5 pounds of fresh produce. We are currently spending an average of $.06 per pound for food. As you know with any organization, there are costs of operation. We make every attempt to be frugal with our purchases and costs. We operate with an open book philosophy- if you have questions about how we spend our money- please ask!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SO GRACIOUSLY DONATED ~ YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

Mr. and Mrs. Dan Spadafora
Mr. and Mrs. Jim France
Hohler Heating and Cooling Inc.
Smith Evergreen Nursery Inc.
Maurer Financial Services
Finnicum Hometown Agency LLC
Dr. Braden Kail
West End Pizza II LLC
Mr. Douglas Baum, Pike Township Trustee
Sparta Steel and Equipment Corp.
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Scot Bowman
Sandyville United Methodist Church
Joseph Wigfield, DDS
Mrs. Martha Porter
Mr. and Mrs. Don Harper
Cibo’s Restaurant
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Finnicum
Centenary United Methodist Church

Feeding America designates September as Hunger Action Month! Feeding America partners with the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank to provide low cost/free food to food pantries in our area- including Helping Hands Network. In the past Helping Hands has held a Hike for Hunger in September. This year we have decided to forego the hike for an annual fundraising month coinciding with the hunger awareness nationwide.
Food Insecurity in alive and well in Ohio. Ohio ranks as the 6th highest food insecure state in the nation according to a study by Feeding America. Children and adults face hunger in every neighborhood, including ours. Your neighbor, coworker or your child’s classmate may be among the food insecure.
Helping Hands Network provides a generous five day supply of food to any of our neighbors who qualify according to income guidelines set forth by the USDA. In order to meet this need we must purchase food, transport food, store food, account for the help we provide, maintain our building and pay other operational costs (heat, phone, water etc). In 2016, Helping Hands helped an average of 666 individuals each month, so far in 2017 our average is 682. We receive $450 per month from Stark County Hunger Task Force to spend on food at the Food Bank, ALL other expenses are covered by LOCAL donations.
Please consider supporting our annual fund drive. Through your generosity we can continue to give a HELPING HAND to our neighbors in need.

Checks may be made payable to “Helping Hands Network” and mailed to PO Box 595, Waynesburg, OH 44688.

Thank you for your support!

School is now in session and 165 children are sitting in a classroom ready to learn because of you! Thank you to EVERYONE who donated supplies! Special thanks goes out to the lovely ladies of Living Water Fellowship: Diane, Dorothy, Elaine, Shelby, and Karla along with community volunteers, Danny and Kaitlynn. They packed up ALL the bags of supplies for the children. Thank you to our volunteers who passed out the supplies to the families: Carole, Martha, Bob, and Ali. We have some extra supplies left which we will be taking to the schools in the next several weeks. Thanks once again to EVERYONE who helped us get the school year off to a great start!!!

Once again the gardening season is upon us and as we are impatiently waiting on homegrown tomatoes, I invite you to consider donating any abundance you may have to Helping Hands. Our families may shop once per month for food and may come in for bread every week if they choose. We have recently added fresh produce to this weekly distribution. We hope this will help our families even more!
Fresh produce is the most nutrient dense form of vegetables and fruit, so we are particularly excited to be able to provide it on an ongoing basis!
You may drop off any abundance to us during regular business hours- T-W-TH 9:00 to 2:30 at 126 S Main St Waynesburg. ALL donations, no matter how big or small, are appreciated and will go toward feeding those in our community who are food insecure. Thank you as always for your tremendous support!!! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at 330-866-2005!

I ran across this article in The Reader’s Digest called “The Gift of Food”.  I copied it and had everyone at HHN read it.  We thought maybe you would enjoy it too.

There are those in our culture who subscribe to the notion that the only people who come to a food pantry are those that are looking for a handout.  We here at HHN can tell you otherwise.  This article focuses on that.  I invite you to be open to the fact that we do not always know the entire circumstances of someone else’s situation.  Before we jump on the judgment train,  let us remember that we too could find ourselves in need.  Thank goodness there are those in our community who heed the call to help others.  If you have never worried about where your next meal will come from consider how fortunate you are and remember there but for the grace of God…

Follow the link below to the article “The Gift of Food”.

This Woman’s Innocent Comment About Food Donations Says a Lot About Poverty in America