The Help Center provides an array of services for people who need help, but Twanna Jones, president and founder of the nonprofit organization, said that she and her team must also provide hope along with the help.
One cannot go without the other, Jones told WIZS’s Bill Harris on Thursday’s The Local Skinny!
“It’s the combination of the two that really is the fabric of what we do here,” she said, and by offering help through tangible services, as well as a generous dose of hope, “we change the dynamics of our community and the nation.”
Jones created The Help Center in 2017 out of a lifelong passion for helping her fellow man. In just a few short years, The Help Center operates in 11 counties, including the facility at 415 Raleigh Road in Henderson.
Area residents can sign up for the next pet clinic, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 29 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. The first clinic was so successful – 45 pets came through – that Jones scheduled another one. Call 919.391.7300 to sign up for the Oct. 29 clinic.
“We were nonstop during the pandemic,” Jones said of the various programs that are tucked up under The Help Center. From food distribution to youth enrichment programs and support for the elderly, volunteers and staff kept providing help and hope, hope and help.
But the cadre of volunteers has shrunk recently, and food donations are down, so Jones said The Help Center could use a little help from the community.
“We are truly in need,” she said, “not only volunteers, but resources, too, because of rising food prices.
A fairly new addition to The Help Center’s food distribution is the Healthy Food Pantry, which distributes pre-made boxes of fresh produce to clients who request them. Volunteers tuck recipes in the boxes, which come in handy for those who are unfamiliar with how to prepare some of the produce they receive.
They also offer a “fresh market,” Jones said, “to offer more fresh produce for families to come out and ‘choice’ shop – which means they choose the items themselves.
On the horizon is their Thanksgiving food distribution program the week before the Nov. 24 holiday and the winter proram, which will take place the week before Christmas. This program will hearken back to days gone by, when gifts included peppermint sticks, fruit and nuts, she said.
“We’ll set it up sort of like a parade,” Jones explained. Participants will receive a food box and some other Christmas goodies, but the emphasis this year will be on tradition. “We want to go back to that old-fashioned Christmas…to sit down and break bread together.”
Want to volunteer? Call 919.391.7300 ext 3, visit www.thehelpcenternc.com or text “mission” 833.241.4082.
Need help? Call 919.391.7300, visit www.thehelpcenter.com or text “help” to 833.241.4082.
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