Because we feel it is important that you know how and where your donations to Helping Hands are spent, here is what was done in the past week:

Electric                5 families     $   2,692.12

Water                   5 families     $   1,776.94

Rent                   43 families     $ 50,112.07

Total                $ 54,581.13

SORRY!

Last week we pulled our trucks from St. Stephen’s.  Those trucks had been a very popular location for people to drop off their donations to Helping Hands for many years, and over the years those donations, which were sold in our thrift store, brought a huge amount of revenue that we used to help those in need with their rent, utilities and medical bills.  Over the years we would occasionally receive a call from someone claiming that they had seen someone taking items off the truck, but those calls were fairly rare.  The staff at St. Stephen’s had done the best job they could in fending off thieves in the past, even though it was not their job nor their responsibility, but lately the theft and the vandalism within the trucks had become so bad that we had no option but to pull the trucks completely. Bags of clothing were routinely ripped open and the contents scattered through the trucks. Many fragile items were broken.  It reached a point where more and more of the donations had to be tossed away due to being unusable.

We could no longer bear to see those items that you entrusted to us being handled so thoughtlessly and so we removed the trucks. We pray that you continue to support us by bringing your donations directly to us at 1301 Brinson Lane Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. As you approach our building, go to the left-hand side and through the gate at the back of the parking lot.  There is an unloading area behind our store with shopping carts for your donations.  Receipts for tax write-offs are available at that time.

Again, we are sorry that it has come to this.  There is nothing we would love more than to go back to the way things used to be, but unfortunately times have changed. We again thank the staff of St. Stephen’s for allowing us to use their parking lot as a pickup site for all of these years, and we thank them for doing all that they could to help us out with policing the trucks.  If anyone has a better idea on how we can manage receiving donations please let us know.  Thanks, and God bless you for your generosity!