She helps where hunger is a secret

By CLAUDIA KOERNER

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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LAGUNA BEACH – Like so many who run fast-growing enterprises, Sita Helms can rarely finish a sentence before her phone rings. She excuses herself, even though she’s just arrived for a meeting. She apologizes as she steps away, but the call can’t wait.

Sita Helms loads a delivery truck with donations with volunteer Luther Castro.

CLAUDIA KOERNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MORE PHOTOS »

To get involved, visit  thehelpinghandworldwide.org or call 949-499-4476.

As businesslike as she sounds, Helms, 50, isn’t leading a small business or a big business or any business at all. Her work is charity, the Helping Hand Worldwide, which works to feed the hungry in a stretch of Orange County where, on the surface, it might seem that hunger isn’t a big problem.

Sadly, Helms’ business is booming.

MANY ROLES

It’s a sunny, spring Friday. By 8 a.m. Helms has ushered her two daughters to middle school and high school and hustled herself to a parking lot in South Laguna, where one of the three Helping Hand delivery trucks is parked.

But before she can climb out of her own car, the Blackberry is buzzing.

A grant application is due later today and the volunteer helping her write that application is calling from out of town. They discuss what’s left to be done before submitting the request for funding.

Finally, when she clicks off that call, Helms switches away from her role as chief executive. Running a charity means wearing many hats and, as she turns the truck’s ignition and hears a diesel engine growl to life, Helms takes on a new role – delivery driver.

In part, Helping Hand fills a wholesaler’s role among local charities. Helms and her crew get excess food from grocery stores and other corporate sponsors, and deliver it to 14 food banks. Those food banks, in turn, get food to people who might otherwise go hungry. Helping Hand also plays a more direct role, getting food to people with living in low-income apartments, to military families, and to schools.

When the group began in 2004, Helms and other volunteers paid for most of the organization’s needs out of pocket. Helms, whose background is in real estate, says she was happy to help because she sensed a need and because, well, she could.

But in the six years since, Helms has seen the operation expand. Even in upscale south Orange County – as she drives her truck past houses valued at multiple millions of dollars – hunger has grown. So have her expenses. This year, the charity is delivering some eight tons of food a day. Just the insurance and maintenance for the three trucks runs about $45,000 a year.

To stay in a business that brings in zero revenue, Helms finds it necessary to use public grants and community gifts and, yes, her own money.

And there’s more growth in the works.

Helms says Helping Hand needs a warehouse, a place with space for walk-in refrigerators. Also, she says, a forklift would be nice, taking on the work of loading and unloading pallets of food, something now done by hand. And, ideally, Helms says, the upgraded version of Helping Hand would have room for a thrift store, an outlet that would help provide a steady income to help pay for overhead.

Though the workload has increased dramatically over the years, Helms sticks to her original goal of never turning food away while someone is in need.

“It’s easy to place food.”

LUXURIOUS HUNGER

The first stop of the day is Trader Joe’s, where Helms and a volunteer fill the back of the truck with bags of bread, vegetables, fruit and flowers. In between lifting crates Helms gets another call, this time from another volunteer who had received some good news from his doctor.

After talking animatedly for a few minutes, Helms returns to the truck.

“What a relief he’s not sick,” she says.

Illness is what pushed Helms into charity work.

In 1984, she was working selling homes and a retired neighbor, a military man, asked her to look at his house. When she returned to his house a few days later, she found the man sitting the same chair where she’d last seen him. He was dehydrated and confused. He’d had a stroke. And, it turned out, Helms was the only person checking on him.

She made some phone calls and connected the man with medical help and, later, Meals on Wheels.

That year, Helms started volunteering to work at Meals on Wheels.

“He kind of threw me in a whole different realm,” Helms says of the man she first helped.

The lesson Helms took away was simple – need and isolation can go unrecognized, even in seemingly comfortable communities. She calls it “secrets behind closed doors,” explaining that pride and hunger sometimes coexist.

“People are embarrassed to say they’re in need.”

NO ONE EATS ALONE

Back in the truck and, yes, Helms’ phone is ringing.

She balances the Blackberry carefully on the steering wheel and talks through the phone’s speaker.

The conversation is about how to pick up a pallet of 700 cartons of eggs from a Mission Viejo grocery store. Over several more calls, Helms carefully navigates the Pacific Coast Highway traffic, finally driving to the Top of the World neighborhood. There, she drops off the donated flowers and bread to teachers at Thurston Middle School.

Later today, she says, she’ll be delivering food to seniors at a low-income apartment complex. But they tend not to eat much artisan bread. The teachers at Thurston welcome the high-end breads that often are out of their budget. The flowers, Helms adds, are just to make the teachers smile.

“A happy teacher is a happy 30 kids,” Helms says.

She leaves the donations on the curb as thankful staff members tote them inside.

Skillfully maneuvering the truck down curvy, hillside roads, Helms drives back toward Coast Highway. She honks and waves at two ladies out for a morning walk. By the time she backs the truck into the loading area at South Laguna Albertsons, she’s found a volunteer willing to load eggs between regularly scheduled deliveries.

With the truck reloaded with donations from Albertsons, the last stop of the day is a low-income senior housing complex.

As food is set out on tables for residents to “shop” from, Helms jokes with volunteers and compliments an elderly woman’s hat. She makes sure each of the residents waiting in line gets a little extra food. That way, Helms says, they can have a neighbor over for dinner. No one, she says, should have to eat alone.

“Then you get the sort of community where people start to look after each other.”

Contact the writer: ckoerner@ocregister.com or 949-454-7309

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

• Videos

LAGUNA BEACH – Like so many who run fast-growing enterprises, Sita Helms can rarely finish a sentence before her phone rings. She excuses herself, even though she’s just arrived for a meeting. She apologizes as she steps away, but the call can’t wait.

 Sita Helms loads a delivery truck with donations with volunteer Luther Castro.

CLAUDIA KOERNER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MORE PHOTOS »

To get involved, visit  thehelpinghandworldwide.org or call 949-499-4476

As businesslike as she sounds, Helms, 50, isn’t leading a small business or a big business or any business at all. Her work is charity, the Helping Hand Worldwide, which works to feed the hungry in a stretch of Orange County where, on the surface, it might seem that hunger isn’t a big problem.

Sadly, Helms’ business is booming.

MANY ROLES

It’s a sunny, spring Friday. By 8 a.m. Helms has ushered her two daughters to middle school and high school and hustled herself to a parking lot in South Laguna, where one of the three Helping Hand delivery trucks is parked.

But before she can climb out of her own car, the Blackberry is buzzing.

A grant application is due later today and the volunteer helping her write that application is calling from out of town. They discuss what’s left to be done before submitting the request for funding.

Finally, when she clicks off that call, Helms switches away from her role as chief executive. Running a charity means wearing many hats and, as she turns the truck’s ignition and hears a diesel engine growl to life, Helms takes on a new role – delivery driver.

In part, Helping Hand fills a wholesaler’s role among local charities. Helms and her crew get excess food from grocery stores and other corporate sponsors, and deliver it to 14 food banks. Those food banks, in turn, get food to people who might otherwise go hungry. Helping Hand also plays a more direct role, getting food to people with living in low-income apartments, to military families, and to schools.

When the group began in 2004, Helms and other volunteers paid for most of the organization’s needs out of pocket. Helms, whose background is in real estate, says she was happy to help because she sensed a need and because, well, she could.

But in the six years since, Helms has seen the operation expand. Even in upscale south Orange County – as she drives her truck past houses valued at multiple millions of dollars – hunger has grown. So have her expenses. This year, the charity is delivering some eight tons of food a day. Just the insurance and maintenance for the three trucks runs about $45,000 a year.

To stay in a business that brings in zero revenue, Helms finds it necessary to use public grants and community gifts and, yes, her own money.

And there’s more growth in the works.

Helms says Helping Hand needs a warehouse, a place with space for walk-in refrigerators. Also, she says, a forklift would be nice, taking on the work of loading and unloading pallets of food, something now done by hand. And, ideally, Helms says, the upgraded version of Helping Hand would have room for a thrift store, an outlet that would help provide a steady income to help pay for overhead.

Though the workload has increased dramatically over the years, Helms sticks to her original goal of never turning food away while someone is in need.

“It’s easy to place food.”

LUXURIOUS HUNGER

The first stop of the day is Trader Joe’s, where Helms and a volunteer fill the back of the truck with bags of bread, vegetables, fruit and flowers. In between lifting crates Helms gets another call, this time from another volunteer who had received some good news from his doctor.

After talking animatedly for a few minutes, Helms returns to the truck.

“What a relief he’s not sick,” she says.

Illness is what pushed Helms into charity work.

In 1984, she was working selling homes and a retired neighbor, a military man, asked her to look at his house. When she returned to his house a few days later, she found the man sitting the same chair where she’d last seen him. He was dehydrated and confused. He’d had a stroke. And, it turned out, Helms was the only person checking on him.

She made some phone calls and connected the man with medical help and, later, Meals on Wheels.

That year, Helms started volunteering to work at Meals on Wheels.

“He kind of threw me in a whole different realm,” Helms says of the man she first helped.

The lesson Helms took away was simple – need and isolation can go unrecognized, even in seemingly comfortable communities. She calls it “secrets behind closed doors,” explaining that pride and hunger sometimes coexist.

“People are embarrassed to say they’re in need.”

NO ONE EATS ALONE

Back in the truck and, yes, Helms’ phone is ringing.

She balances the Blackberry carefully on the steering wheel and talks through the phone’s speaker.

The conversation is about how to pick up a pallet of 700 cartons of eggs from a Mission Viejo grocery store. Over several more calls, Helms carefully navigates the Pacific Coast Highway traffic, finally driving to the Top of the World neighborhood. There, she drops off the donated flowers and bread to teachers at Thurston Middle School.

Later today, she says, she’ll be delivering food to seniors at a low-income apartment complex. But they tend not to eat much artisan bread. The teachers at Thurston welcome the high-end breads that often are out of their budget. The flowers, Helms adds, are just to make the teachers smile.

“A happy teacher is a happy 30 kids,” Helms says.

She leaves the donations on the curb as thankful staff members tote them inside.

Skillfully maneuvering the truck down curvy, hillside roads, Helms drives back toward Coast Highway. She honks and waves at two ladies out for a morning walk. By the time she backs the truck into the loading area at South Laguna Albertsons, she’s found a volunteer willing to load eggs between regularly scheduled deliveries.

With the truck reloaded with donations from Albertsons, the last stop of the day is a low-income senior housing complex.

As food is set out on tables for residents to “shop” from, Helms jokes with volunteers and compliments an elderly woman’s hat. She makes sure each of the residents waiting in line gets a little extra food. That way, Helms says, they can have a neighbor over for dinner. No one, she says, should have to eat alone.

“Then you get the sort of community where people start to look after each other.”

Contact the writer: ckoerner@ocregister.com or 949-454-7309

Her Helping Hands Deliver Aid at Home and Abroad

The Laguna Beach Independent

December 12, 2008

by William Hagel

Sita Helms, founder of the non-profit Helping Hand Worldwide, collects food at the Laguna Niguel Trader Joe’s for distribution to the Laguna Beach Resource Center, one of 43 organizations she assists with Helping Hand. Staff photo by Courtenay Nearburg

Watching Sita Helms roll up her sleeves and load the meat and produce at the local Trader Joes is not the same as watching someone shop. For one thing, she’s at the loading dock making sure a pickup truck fills up with enough to feed a small army.

And that was just the beginning of her day. In 1984 Helms gave up her appraising property and real estate sales to take care of the poor and needy. As a kid from a single mom, who worked in a grocery store, Helms saw thousands of pounds of food being wasted. From her on the job experience, she knew how to tap a resource at the stores.

A stint in Chile as a foreign exchange student developed another skill, useful in cajoling the Spanish-speaking grocery truck drivers. She said small kindnesses to everyone connected with her efforts pay off in big ways. As a gesture, she passed out boxes of caffeinated candy bars to the young men wrapping the goods she was picking up in plastic.

Laguna Beach, an affluent city by most measures, is the most surprising recipient for her services. The 72 residents of the low-income Vista Aliso apartments have much better nutrition now, according to Helms. “Before we started serving them,” she said, “some of them were kind of gray. Now they’re nice and pink.” She describes kids she’s run into that never owned their own ball or doll and a girl wearing shoes that should have been thrown out years ago. “I found a pair sitting out in an alley for free and got them to her,” Helms said.

Helms’ 95-strong, all volunteer Helping Hand Worldwide organization collected an estimated $1.5 million in donations during 2008 from Trader Joes, Albertsons, Big Lots, and Pavilions to benefit 43 organizations. Recipients include Camp Pendleton’s 5th Marine Regiment, local food banks, senior centers, HUD housing in Laguna Beach, and schools serving low-income families.

Worldwide aid goes to Iraq where U.S. soldiers distribute Helping Hand goods to children; clothes and books go to orphanages in Ensenada, Mexico; a variety of items ends up in a small village in Guatemala; and donated medical supplies find their way to the Equity House Clinic in Hopkins Village in Belize.

Helms pointed out that the persons working in the back end of the store need training to keep the food safe for consumption, and that requires special handling. “The biggest thing is training staff,” Helms said.

A pet project involving Marines called Operation Baby Shower supports military wives who need a start for their families. Yvette Heinze of Camp Pendleton said, “It was a fantastic event, and it meant so much to all of us whose husbands are so far away.”

Don Campbell, who has volunteered in Helm’s crew for three years, is a retired firefighter. Now, he works four days a week picking up goods in his pickup, filled recently at Trader Joes. He admires the store’s management for making the effort to donate unsold goods. “It’s easier for the store to throw it away,” he said. “They invest in people to scan and process and wrap it in plastic.”

Donations can be arranged by calling Sita at 949 499- 4476, or eMailing her at Sita@theHHWW.org .

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We also supply a place for everyone in our community to find information and support. To get more information please click on the Need Help ? Tab above.

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Helping Hand makes a difference in real lives. We have been helping people in our local community and around the world for nearly 20 years. The most important thing we give is hope. Each time we deliver to a Senior Center, a Food Pantry, a School, a Military Base, or a Low-Income Housing project we receive cheers, hugs and warm smiles along with big a “ThankYou !”

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For a list of organizations we help, click here or use the Who We Aid tab above.

• The Old Time Garage has donated the labor for engine service done on Helping Hand volunteer’s vehicles.
• 800Dollar.com donate their service of managing this web site.

Helping Hand Worldwide is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organizations and all donations are tax deductible.  Please let us know if you would like us to send you a confirmation of your donation on our letterhead for your tax filing purposes.

Clicking on the Donate button above will take you to PayPal service pages to complete the transaction.

Is PayPal safe to use?

All donations are secured by PayPal. PayPal works 24/7 to help safeguard your privacy and protect your financial information by using industry-leading security technology, vigilant monitoring, and fraud prevention systems.

Helping Hand is a 501 (c) (3) non profit organization and your donation is tax deductible.  Please contact us by email if you need a confirmation of your donation on our letterhead for your tax filing purposes.

Helping Hand accepts donations using MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Dicover, and Bank Debit Cards.  You may also mail your monetary donation to:

The Helping Hand Worlwide, LLC
PO Box 1296
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693

Large Item or Large Volume Pick-Up & Drop-Off

United Community Thrift Store

34099 Doheny Park Road aka Camino Capistrano
Dana Point, California
(949) 240-0441
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If you have a large appliance, a large piece of furniture, a large volume of children’s clothing, toys, and/or books, or several large baby items (car seats, cribs, play pens, strollers, changing tables, rocking chairs, etc.) that you wish to donate, you may call for a pick-up to be scheduled.

If you would rather, you may also drop-off any of the above mentioned items (along with vacuums, fans, humidifiers or dehumidifiers) and they will be distributed by The Helping Hand to those in need.

All donations must be in good condition and working order.

HELPING HAND DEBUTS NEW WEBSITE APRIL25, 2009

Helping Hand Worldwide is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization supported by a variety of regional and local retailers such as Albertsons, BigLots, Trader Joe’s and Vons, to name a few who donate food and other goods.

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Donations from retailers include produce, beef, poultry and dairy products, frozen foods, can goods, day-old breads, and other assorted products.

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Helping Hand supports 13 regional food banks and 43 local community service organizations by providing food and other goods.  Together we feed approximately 16,000+ individuals every month in South Orange County.

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This is accomplished due to the efforts of the Helping Hand all volunteer work force.

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The Helping Hand Mobil Food Pantry is made possible by monetary donations from Allergan, the Board of Realtors of Laguna Beach, the City of Dana Point, as well as private donors.

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For more information, please see our Charter, Board of Directors, and Articles pages.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead, anthropologist

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Volunteering with The Helping Hand Worldwide is a very rewarding experience. Depending on the amount of time and frequency you are available, there is a multitude of ways one may volunteer. All of our volunteers are compassionate individuals and they are expected to maintain the highest level of moral, ethical and professional conduct while in service of the Helping Hand, its staff, volunteers, agencies, centers, stores, accounts, clients, community events, facilities, and meetings.

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We need licensed drivers to pick-up food & goods from retail vendors and then delivery it to the agencies we aid. This can be done 1-7 days a week, and is usually conducted between 8:30-10:30 am. This would be an on-going assignment. There is also a need for alternate drivers who can fill-in when volunteers are on vacation, ill, or detained from their assigned pick-ups on a temporary short-term basis. You may also serve as driver who is available later in the day, on an intermittent, basis ~ On occasion, vendors have additional food/goods ready to be picked-up later in the day. In this case a volunteer could be called and would be expected to conduct a pick-up and delivery within 2 hours.

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We need people to wash used children’s clothing that has been donated which needs to be sorted by size and gender so it may be distributed to children in need.

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We need people to be trained as first responders to deliver food/goods to a family with-in 48 hours of their having contacted The Helping Hand. This includes observing the residence and noting any additional assistance or services that a family may need.

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We need people who can knit, crochet & sew to make blankets for children.

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We need skilled tradesmen and licensed/bonded contractors who will volunteer their time and donate their skills with electrical, plumbing, automotive and handyman services on an on-call basis.

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We need hairdressers, estheticians and manicurist who would be interested in offering their services gratis for planned events at senior centers, or working with children before an outing, holiday event or birthday party.

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We need you! If you are talented and passionate about the work that you do and you would like to help others within your community, please contact us. We will find a way that you can contribute and make a difference!

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No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
-Anonymous

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Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
Mark Twain

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Our good works are like stones cast into the pool of time; though the stones themselves may disappear, their ripples extend to eternity.
-Anonymous