Helping Hands Projects
Helping Hands has several ongoing projects. For information on each of them, click on the titles below.
Helping Hand’s Adopt-a-Family program has been operative for approximately 50 years in Starkville. For a long time it was under the direction of the Chamber of Commerce and when the organization was incorporated into the Greater Starkville Development Program, there was no one to take over the leadership. Margo Swain single-handedly kept the program going and since she was a member of Helping Hand’s, she convinced the board to take it on as one of their service projects.
Approximately 100 families are selected each holiday season. In September of each year, the Helping Hands chair convenes representatives from the following agencies for an organizational meeting:
- *Community Counseling Services
- DHS/Family and Children's Services
- MS Department of Education - Office of Compulsory School Attendance
- Brickfire Project
- Emerson Family School Programs
- Oktibbeha County health Department
- MS Dept. of Education - School Attendance Office
- Starkville School District
- Tombigbee Public Health, District IV
- MDHS - Division of Youth Services
These are professionals who submit the reference forms for the families. They certify they know that these families are indeed ones who need help. Helping Hands has nothing to do with selecting or approving who gets adopted.
Others who attend this meeting include the director of United Way (Helping Hands is an annual recipient of United Way funds), Starkville Daily News (who publishes all the information concerning the families and their needs), and a representative from the Junior Auxiliary (who provide toys for the children).
The Sunday before Thanksgiving the first article appears in the SDN listing the families to be adopted. Those interested in choosing a family are encouraged to call the family to further determine their needs and to make arrangements for delivery. It is up to the individual/family/group making the adoption to determine how much they can spend for the gifts. It is hoped that the ones making the adoption can keep up contact throughout the year.
For the 2008 holiday season, the following families were adopted:
- 59 families adopted by churches
- 12 families adopted by MSU
- 11 families were adopted by businesses and civic clubs, school classes or scout groups
- 7 families were adopted anonymously
- 13 families were adopted by individuals
Each year, the Starkville community comes together for an interdenominational Thanksgiving service. The event is hosted at different churches each year. A donation is collected and the money is directed to Helping Hands.
Partner with 52 M.O.M.S. and Helping Hands in a Share the Light project to benefit Oktibbeha County residents. We know that temperatures will lower this winter while gas and electricity prices will increase. While we bundle up in our heated blankets, clothe ourselves in flannelled coats, and adjust our thermostats to warm our family’s home, others will lack the resources to be so comfortable. This lack of resources will be especially felt by those people most in need in our community (working poor, elderly, single parent families, disabled, and seriously ill). Helping Hands, a local non-profit organization originally formed in 1998 by over 70 local churches, has served as a clearinghouse for those in need. They screen requests and verify need and then dispense funds for crisis situations.
52 M.O.M.S. applauds the mission of Helping Hands and we desire to team with them this winter on a creative mission that is inspired by the spirit of warm giving and the light of energy education.
Please help us share the light.
You can participate in the following ways:
Provide a light at the end of the tunnel: Donate money to Helping Hands to pay the utility bills of pre-screened applicants. Checks can be made to Helping Hands and sent by mail to: Helping Hands, PO Box 2101, Starkville, MS 39759
Shed light for others
Donate energy-efficient light bulbs and safe space heaters to be distributed by Helping Hands and 52 M.O.M.S. Donations may be purchased and dropped off in a designated box at any of the three following local stores; Bell’s Building Supply Store, East MS Lumber Company, and Lowe’s. To promote our project and the “shedding of light to others” we will host a table at each of the stores on the Saturdays of Nov. 15th, Dec. 13th, and Jan. 17th from 10a.m. until p.m.
See the light for yourself
Be educated on how you can lower energy cost in your own home. Stay warm and save money this winter by following these no-cost and low cost tips.
1. Open curtains on south-facing windows during the day so the sun can
heat your home. Close them at night.
2. When you are asleep or out of the house, turn your thermostat back 10°-15° for eight hours and save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills.
3. Replace your furnace filter once a month or as needed. Have your heating system serviced routinely for efficient operation.
4. Add caulk or weather stripping to seal air leaks around leaky doors and windows.
5. Water heaters can account for 14%-25% of your energy bill. Turn
down your water heater to 120°F.
Click here for more information about this project.