Volunteer
The Helping Hand was founded by a group of volunteers and remained volunteer operated until May 2019 when the Board of Directors knew it was time to take the next step and invest in Community Outreach and Development and brought on their first paid staff member.
Volunteers are the solid foundation to which our organization continues to move forward to achieve our goals. We have over 80 volunteers who work in a variety of tasks to keep The Helping Hand safe, clean, happy and giving. Our motto for our volunteers is, “ Hearts to Serve & Hope to Spread”.
Our volunteers take great pride in our facility and their service to our clients. It is not unusual for our clients to call our volunteers by name and our volunteers to acknowledge our clients by their names. We have lots of volunteers that work the front lines and other that chose to work behind the scenes.
Volunteer Tasks and Responsibilities
- Sort through clothing pantry donations
- which may include household/baby and furniture items
- Arrange the clothes and items on the shopping floor
- Sort and organize books, CDs, DVDs and VHS donations
- Sort footwear donations and organize shoe shelves
- Sort, count and document food and personal care donations
- Organize, clean and restock food pantry
- Shop with clients in the food/clothing pantry during open service hours
- Greet clients at the Food Pantry and Clothing Pantry entrances
- Join the computer intake team in the Food Pantry
Volunteer Teams
Food Recovery Team
In the Spring of 2019, we started our decrease food waste and increase equal access to food initiative by contacting local grocery stores and educating them about food waste and food recovery. We have 5 routes throughout Warren County and delivery food four times a week. Our volunteers drive and pick up food from local stores and deliver the food into community access points like our schools, senior centers, trailer parks and community refrigerators.
Refrigerated truck with awarded to use through a grant with some matching funds through Warren County Philanthropic 2021.
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Transportation Team
The volunteer members of this team lift boxes and they load and unload a variety of trucks containing food, clothing, dry goods and other items that are delivered to our facility or out to our community. Several of our team members have been approved and trained to drive our Refrigerated Truck for pick up and delivery purposes.
Grow and Give Team
Help cultivate fresh fruits and vegetables year long with our
Hydroponic Growing System. This system comes fully equipped with a STEM curriculum and education component for our younger clients to engage and become a part of the process of healthy living.
