Don's Helping Hands

The mission of our Don's Helping Hands ministry is to carry out corporal works of mercy in our community, with a primary focus on feeding the hungry and providing drink to the thirsty.

Each weekday, we serve about 90 bagged lunches to those less fortunate from the rectory’s Red Door Room between 9:30–10:30 am. This effort depends entirely on the love and generosity of our volunteers, who help by donating supplies, making sandwiches, assembling lunches, and serving them.

Who was Don, you ask? Watch this video:

4 Ways You Can Support Don's Helping Hands

1. Assemble 20-30 Sandwiches From Home

Volunteers shop and donate the materials for sandwiches (we currently serve about 25 people daily) and prepare them at home for our guests, then drop them off at the Parish Office on your designated day.

Sandwiches are 2 slices of white or soft wheat bread, 1 slice of lunchmeat (usually turkey) and 1 slice of cheese (usually American), placed in a ziploc bag (no condiments on the sandwich). Place the bagged sandwiches back into the plastic bread bag and use a permanent marker (or label) to write the date on the outer bag. We trust you will take safety precautions as you make the sandwiches at home.

2. Serve our Guests Onsite

We need two volunteers each day to hand out lunches from the Red Door Room at the rectory. Children under the age of 18 must have an adult present with them. All volunteers should be familiar with Don's Helping Hands Server Protocols. Please arrive at the Parish Office at 9:15am, and begin serving from the Red Door at 9:30am for one hour.

Are you a NEW volunteer (or haven't served in a while and would like a refresher)? It is important to attend a training session before signing up for serving shifts, so that you know what to expect and arrived prepared.

3. Donate Supplies

Please... we can not accept donations of clothing, shoes, appliances or goods that are not listed below (unless specifically asked for during a supply drive). May we suggest that you take those donations directly to The Salvation Army (on Clybourn just south of Ashland) where they have a distribution network.

We gratefully accept the following items throughout the year:

Trial Sized Toiletries

Toothpaste & Toothbrushes
Deodorant
Soap
Body Wash
Shampoo
Hand Sanitizer
Hand Wipes - single packets
In the colder months, our guests also appreciate Hand and Foot Warmers

Food Items

Coffee (ground, not whole bean)
Cans of Pop
Bottled Water
Maruchan Instant Ramen Soup CUPS - the ones in the styrofoam cups, not the packages without a cup because we cannot prepare those without disposable bowls
Individually packaged snacks (cookies, chips, chocolate, etc)
Fresh Fruit - "soft" varieties preferred like bananas and clementines
Nutri-grain bars (any flavor)

Because many of our guests suffer from dental issues, they cannot enjoy "hard" items (bagels, french bread, hard candy etc.) and these items usually go to waste, please find another use for them.

Serving Supplies

Brown paper lunch bags
Plastic forks
Disposable coffee cups with lids
Stir sticks
Coffee creamer and sugar/sweetener packets
Individual sized condiment packets of mayo or mustard

4. Donate Financially

These funds will go directly to our Hands of Mercy Outreach Ministries which supports Don's Helping Hands. Each bagged lunch costs approximately $4.87 - about $87/day, $440/week and $1,827/month.

Our shoppers will use monetary donations to purchase whatever supplies are needed most. We buy in bulk and use tax exempt accounts with our suppliers.

THANK YOU for your kind service and generous donations to our Don's Helping Hands ministry!