Author: The County Journal

By Phil Grimwood Helping Hands As many of you know (and those who do not), Helping Hands Food Pantry has been serving the greater Charlotte community since 1982, (including the Vermontville and Sunfield areas) with the past 20 years at our current location on the corner of South Cochran and Shaw Street. In January 2018, articles ran in the Lansing State Journal and Detroit Free Press detailing the tremendous amount of food assistance being distributed through our tiny building. Another article around the same time in The County Journal reported how we filled 5,316 household requests for assistance with more than 500,000 pounds of food and personal care items in 2017. It pointed out that 40 percent of our clients are disable, 37 percent are children and 13 percent are seniors, who often must choose between medicine, utilities and food. In addition to these documented numbers, 35 percent of people requesting assistance do so just once during the entire year. (Even though clients are allowed to frequent Helping Hands once every 30 days, only 2 percent will do so all 12 months of the year.) But then the following month a new batch of requests comes in from an entirely different audience, which tends to confirm the old adage that everyone eventually takes a turn going through a tough time financially. In light of this, our Board of Directors...