Fund-A-Need

Have you ever experienced having to choose between laundry soap or food? Have you ever had to get through your cycle without feminine hygiene products? Hopefully, you have not.

However, as we participated in the Essentials First pilot program over the past year, it has made us aware of the severity of our community struggling to meet these basic needs. Many must choose between food and feeling clean.

An example of this program in action is when Big Lake Elementary School contacted the Helping Hands Solutions Team with the need for feminine hygiene products, deodorant, and bar soap for their students. Because of community donors, we could fulfill their request to get needed non-food essential items to the students.

We present you with an opportunity; by funding our Non-Food Life Essentials program, you can remove the stress of choosing between essential needs being met or food being on the table and empower our community. Helping Hands and our participants need you to keep this program going due to the community having a greater need than what the Essentials First pilot program can currently provide.

What is in a Life Essentials Bag? (One family = 4 people on avg.):
• Feminine Hygiene • Toilet Paper • Paper Towels • Cleaning Spray • Body Soap • Baby Wipes • Deodorant • Toothbrushes • Toothpaste • Laundry Soap • Diapers (if needed) • Your choice of Misc. items

Here are ways you can help:
• Yearly: $1,000 supports 100 families a year
• Semi-Annually: $500 supports 100 families a year
• Monthly: $75 supports 90 families a year
• One-Time: $50 supports 5 families for the month

About Helping Hands:

Our Mission is to nourish our community with kindness and respect without judgment.

Helping Hands is Skagit County’s largest direct emergency food provider. In 2020, we distributed over 7 million pounds of food to over 700,000 individuals. Each week, we served an average of 3,000 families, 2,000 Cutting Hunger On Weekends (C.H.O.W.) bags a week, and 250 Mobile Food boxes. Many of our participants are working, yet are unable to meet their families basic needs, including food.

Helping Hands is more than a food bank – we are a solution center. Helping Hands has a DSHS-trained person on staff that can help participants sign up for much-needed assistance. We offer Job Training and Internships as well as participate in Grocery Rescue six days a week, eliminating approximately 22 carbon footprints each month.

As a nonprofit organization, Helping Hands networks with local food providers and community organizations in order to provide the best services possible. We are only able to provide the support we give because of the generous support from our community.

360.856.2211 | www.helpinghandsfoodbank.org | P.O. Box 632, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284