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Son's Helping Hands Clothing Ministry aids residents in need
So generous he would give you the shirt off his back?
Reference websites cite the Bible as the first to use at least a form of that phrase. In Mathew 5:40 Jesus says that if someone asks for your shirt to give them your cloak as well.
And The Son's Helping Hands Clothing Ministry, 5943 E. State Road 240, Greencastle, is putting that into practice in 2012.
The ministry is targeting local residents in need of good, warm clothing in these struggling economic times.
"We believe there is a need here, and a big one," The Son's Helping Hands spokesman Karen Ames said. "There may be even a bigger need in the future, so we're trying to fill that."
Fellow board member Shari Hunteman agreed, hoping to spread the word that clothing assistance is as close as the old white farm house on the north side of State Road 240 (across the road from Blue Flame).
"Our goal," Hunteman said, "is to get the word out on our ministry so folks will know where they can go for help."
Hours of operation at Helping Hands Clothing Ministry are every Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and the fourth Tuesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The effort is backed by a mission statement that reads: "To show the love of Jesus to those in need by being His hands and feet on this earth, to glorify Him by serving others and sharing our blessings, to fill a need in our community by providing clothing free of cost, as well as other types of relief, and most of all to work to see lives changed through the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Meanwhile, the public's assistance is asked as clothing donations are needed to maintain an inventory at the ministry.
Specifically needed is children's clothing of all sizes.
"We're very short on those," Hunteman said, adding that men's clothing is also an area of need.
To inquire more about monetary and specific clothing donations, persons may contact Hunteman at 246-6177.
The clothing ministry can trace its origins to 2006 and support from several Fillmore community area churches (Bethel Baptist, Fillmore Christian and Fillmore Methodist).
Ames was involved when the ministry started and joins David English, Amber McClintock, Christa Stone and Shari Hunteman on the board of directors of the new The Son's Helping Hands Clothing Ministry.
"We had to move the clothes around a few times," Ames recalled, "and operated out of the basement for a while. It ended up that nobody really had space for this much clothing."
The suggestion was that the ministry go after 501C3 status and move out on its own. The donated use of the farm house east of Greencastle made it all possible.
"This donor (who wants to remain anonymous) came up, and it's been a blessing," Ames said. "We thank the Lord for that."
Among other volunteers helping the clothing ministry become a reality have been Mike and Carolyn Kelley, Ken and Gini Boyce and Lori McCammack.
The Kelleys have been especially active, Hunteman noted, as Mike built hanging racks to display the clothing better and wife Carolyn painted them.
Meanwhile, as a fundraiser, The Son's Helping Hands free clothing ministry will sponsor a chili supper every Saturday in October from 4-8 p.m. Dates for the chili suppers are Oct. 6, 13, 20 and 27.
Cost of the chili supper will be a bag of gently used clothing and a free-will offering.
In conjunction with the chili suppers, a corn maze and pumpkin patch are scheduled on the same property. The website www.thepatch-ofputnamcounty.com gives information about those events.