Helping Hands Food Pantry
Location: 224 E. Maple Ave., Miamisburg
Phone: 937-866-9323
Hours: 6-8 p.m., Monday; 2-4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m.-1 p.m. the last Sunday of each month.
More info: Families are asked to call ahead, and limited to one visit per month; they also must meet Miamisburg residency and financial qualifications (applications are available during pantry hours).
Helping Hands in Miamisburg recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, with the food pantry’s volunteers being recognized by city council and 2015 being proclaimed “Helping Hands Year.”
Since it officially opened on Feb. 17, 1965, the pantry, now located at 224 E. Maple Ave., has moved twice and now fills more food orders in a month than what it used to serve in an entire year.
“Back then, George Butler saw the need, and contacted all the churches in Miamisburg, asking them to send someone to the monthly meetings,” said Joyce Dauby, who volunteered for 19 years. “I represented Our Lady of Good Hope; not many showed up at the first meetings, so I became treasurer – we had just $50 then.”
Through the years, Dauby served every office, including president.
“The churches had food drives, then the schools and the Boy Scouts contributed,” he said. “Food was housed in the churches where we each had a pantry, and we’d call each other to take care of what was needed. We felt it would work better if we consolidated, so we moved into a two-story house. The organization was growing little by little as people heard about it, and we were collecting food, delivering, and even started a clothing room in a place we rented.”
Dauby, a 90-year-old former Mound worker, no longer volunteers, but recalls experiences that strengthened her faith in the group’s work.
“We’d get calls from neighbors or concerned residents, then make visits to find out what was needed, and always carried food in the car,” he said. “At one place, there were four kids and only one pair of shoes, so they’d take turns going to school in that pair, which didn’t fit them all. We made it a point to get them all shoes that fit.”
Dauby was still volunteering when John Smelko began in the 1970’s.
“When Miami Paper Mill closed down, I was on the union committee and took food to the workers who’d been laid off,” said Smelko, a West Carrollton resident. “That’s when I became involved with Helping Hands, and I’d haul food and commodities to low-income complexes.”
Finally, a dedicated facility was built downtown in 1988 with refrigerators, freezers, and plenty of shelving to store food. Smelko, now 80, was on board for that venture.
“We don’t have the clothing room any more – that’s been taken over by other groups. Now, volunteers pick up the donated food and set up boxes for families at our building. When we open, people who have called in orders come in and get their packages,” he said. “It’s a multi-people operation now, with churches, grocery stores, people who grow fresh vegetables, and the food bank involved. It’s a godsend – when we make people happy and know they have food, we’re happy.”
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