It fills me with pride when asked to explain the work of HELP HOUSE, a shining star of humanity in our community. This small but mighty local institution turns 30 tomorrow.
GARY WALLIN, board member, pointed out that every year, food banks in Seattle have to close for a couple of months. Not Help House. “Our food bank is open five days a week, 50 weeks of the year,” Wallin said.
What began in the 1960s as a crisis center grew into a community pantry. In 1996, Help House distributed about 12 food baskets a day (not real baskets but big grocery bags). Today they average 20 baskets a day and 423 food baskets once a month. “The average income of our clients is about $723 a month,” said JEAN WIEMAN, director since June 1, 2004. She started as a secretary 11 years ago; the succession of directors has included BILL NANCE, FRAN HUGHES and JOHN WALKER, a master chief, hospital executive officer and chaplain, in that order.
Wallin said thanks to Wieman’s continued good relationship with the Naval Air Station, an available cadre of men and women who will distribute the annual holiday food baskets is ready to roll come November and December. “Her active involvement with the military population has been wonderful for us,” Wallin added.
Describing one particularly rewarding outcome, Wieman recalled the day a woman came in with her 16-year-old daughter. “Her husband had left her and they weren’t established in the area. She came in once a month for a food basket. Then she had to move her mother in with her and making ends meet became even harder,” Wieman said.
“One day she came through the door with a pot of African violets and told us, ‘We are back on our feet and wanted to thank you.’ Such moments as this reinforce our commitment to lend a hand to those who need it.”
Help House will celebrate 30 years during a birthday party tomorrow, July 12, from 3 to 7 p.m. Come see how the application process works and where food baskets are filled. I hope you will also sense the attitude of respect given to clients who apply for food and the joy that comes when the staff sees a client get back to self-sufficiency.
Call Help House at 675-0681. They are located at 1091 SE Hathaway, just up from Pioneer Way.
Not even a ponytail is safe …
Just reaching their goal of $4,000 would have made the doctors, nurses and administrative workers at Whidbey Community Physicians happy. Imagine how great they now feel after raising $5,940 to support the American Cancer Society Relay for Life held in Oak Harbor last month.
For just $1, patients could buy a ticket on their choice of baskets featuring chocolate, gardening items, coffee, beach stuff, kitchen gadgets, NASCAR, Snoopy, Coca-Cola, scrapbook materials and a collection of luxury spa products. A framed print was also part of the raffle, as was the cedar arbor made by BONNIE and TIM DAVIS. At the Relay itself, they sold espresso for $1 a cup.
Back at the office, DR. BRIAN WAITE’s trademark ponytail became fair game. Again, $1 tickets were sold, pulling in about $245. The deed was done and the doctor got himself a haircut. Waite has a wonderful sense of humor and went along so that cancer patients may get the services they need.
The clinic has been raising donations for Relay for Life by ingenious means for the past five years.
How does one start?
In my story about Help House above, GARY WALLIN also noted they also take care of about 24 or 25 homeless people. Homelessness on North Whidbey is not a topic for cocktail parties, but that doesn’t keep the numbers from growing.
Across the country, even in a paradise like Kuaui, homeless huddle against the elements because they have no place to seek refuge. All it took was some local citizens working with federal, state and county government officials to get a shelter started, plus, of course, two acres of land handed over to county leaders by an executive order from governor LINDA LINGLE.
If Kuaui can do it, why can’t we? This has been a dream of mine, and I’m sure of many others, for more than 20 years. Perhaps a group of retired naval officers, business executives and pastors will form an investigative team to see what they need to do. I found the information on Kuaui when I Googled “How do I start a homeless shelter?”
Finally, if our “hot” weather bothers you, you would never last in Arizona. Daytime temps reach 113 degrees and might drop to a cool 90 at night. I just spent a week there visiting my friend who wanted me to see Sedona and the Grand Canyon. I begged off. It’s no fun being under the sizzling sun. We settled for making short trips to pick up more peach iced tea and ice cream sandwiches, reviving ourselves in the stores’ air conditioned comfort. My host’s patio is across from the eighth hole of a beautiful golf course. One day at high noon I saw golfers approach the tee, leaving me to shake my head and duck inside for another ice cream sandwich.
