Helping Hands
Located at the Wesleyan Church location on the corner of Gay Street and Frost Avenue in Chester, Helping Hands Food Bank volunteers, from left, Nancy Blankenship, Barb Sperr and Chris Sellers donate their time to hand out food bags to local residents to supplement their food needs. Photo by Stacy FisherDonations welcome from public
Helping Hands Food Bank, located in a room accessible to the public at the far right side of the Wesleyan Church building in Chester at the corner of Gay Street and Frost Avenue, now also carries a wide variety of produce and fruit donated from Holiday Market, including baked goods and other food items such as bread.
“People are welcome to come in and help themselves, because we want to give it all away each day we have it available,” noted volunteer Chris Sellers.
People are entitled to a total of 12 bags of groceries per year, she said, but they can come in as often as they want for produce. The only requirement to pick up food at the pantry is to show an ID and anything like a current utility bill indicating that the recipient is a resident in the Lake Almanor Basin area.
Sellers said she encourages everyone arriving to the food bank to bring their own bags, but they carry extra bags for convenience.
The pantry accepts non-expired food donations from the community to maintain the pantry’s stock of food items as well as monetary donations by making a check out to Helping Hands Inc., P.O. Box 1607, Chester, CA, 96020. Or donate directly to the pantry during normal hours by coming in on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., when food is offered.
“We very much appreciate it when people drop off canned and non-perishable food items that shows they care about others in our community who need food assistance,” Sellers said. “We couldn’t be here doing this without their generosity.”
Volunteers are always welcome at Helping Hands Food Bank. Handing out food by donating your time in service to your fellow townsfolk can be a wonderful way to feel fulfilled, she said, knowing you are providing a necessary service.
“The families that use our services are very appreciative as well.”
Sellers said the group is thankful to Wesleyan Church for providing the space for the operation of the Food Bank.
Call Chris Sellers at (408) 422-7080 for more information or to volunteer.
