Well, as stated in my last Forum post, my name is Brenda M. and I am one (1) of the four (4) Board Members for Helping Hands 365. I will start by saying I was a Customer Service Manager/Supervisor for 25+ years and pretty much burnt out. In that time, my firs husband and I had 4 children who are now 21, 26, 31, and 33 and all but the 21 year old have children of their own giving me 7 grandchildren that I love and adore. Oh yeah, and then we have to throw in all the grandpuppies and grandkitties that I claim as well. I still can't decide if the kids or animals are more fun to tell you the truth.
Anyway, after almost 20 years of marriage that ended in a pretty bitter divorce where I simply walked away with my kids and all of our belongings so that he could move in my then "best friend" of 10 years (whom he eventually married, and they are now divorced too...I called it and won the bet with my kids. And yes you probably could just see the happy dance I was jut doing as I typed that. LOL).
I have known my current husband for over 38 years, dated him for 5 years, and have been married an additional 7 years since then. We manage mobile home parks, which basically is like running an adult daycare most days. Right before the George Floyd tragedy my sister-in-law and President of Helping Hands 365 approached me and asked if I would like to go to the cities and help her at a food shelf down there where she was helping a friend do distributions of food and also a Holiday Toy Distribution. I have been going with Rose ever since and helping out wherever I can with whatever I can.
During the summer after the death of Mr. Floyd and the riots we were only a few blocks from where buildings were burnt out, shootings were happening and Police, Fire, and Rescue Units were continually near the church that we were distributing out of. That's when I really got hooked on doing the food and toy distributions. The first day after the incident with Mr. Floyd we were called down to work at the food shelf and that is when I really saw just how wonderful human beings are. That first day, people were coming from far away towns and even states away just to volunteer their time, volunteer their vehicles to pick up or deliver groceries to people, pick up lists of household and food items needed and fulfill all of them and beyond, and much more. At that time, there wasn't a grocery store, gas station, pharmacy, or anything open within about a 10 mile radius of where we were; and the residents of that area mainly ride public transportation and have no way to get very far to get necessities for their families. It was heart breaking to hear some of their stories; and yet heart warming to see the outpouring of support that complete strangers were providing to those in need. We had gone from heading down to the cities maybe once or twice a month to 3-5 days a week. The experience was completely exhausting, and yet completely fulfilling at the same time. That's when I got hooked on volunteering to help those who needed it.
Sadly, many people are ashamed to ask for a "hand-out". I don't consider it that, I consider it to be "paying it forward". Everyone gets down on their luck from time to time, that's life. You see people that appear to be ashamed to ask for the help, but I always try to tell them it's just temporary and when you get back on your feet then you can "pay it forward" and volunteer and give to others in your community that may have fallen on hard times. There is nothing you can do to change it; but you shouldn't turn away the help when it is offered to you.
Don't get me wrong, we have served some pretty ungrateful people...that too is simply a part of life. But those are few and far between. And when I did my first Toy Distribution in the cities and saw the faces of the kids who were so grateful to be getting a toy for the Holidays, I knew I was hooked and that I wanted to keep feeling that way. So when Rose asked if I wanted to be part of her new non-profit organization I felt it would be a perfect fit for me, and it has been. I love what I do (away from my adult daycare daily grind) and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Each day that I get to work with the organization I learn something new and feel a little more fulfilled than the day before.
So there you have it...that's my story and how I got the "fever" to do volunteer work with my sister-in-law. She's lucky I love her! Ha-ha