Hands Helping Hands: Ministry provides food, clothing to neighbors in need

Dianne Miller stands in front of the sign at the future headquarters of Hands Helping Hands Ministry.

Hands Helping Hands Ministry will host its free day on Thursday and Friday at this spot.

Donation boxes are on the property

Mooresville Tribune

Dianne Miller lives by one motto. “Everybody can’t do everything but everybody can do something” is not just a saying to Miller. It’s how she lives her life.

And for the past 11 years, Miller and a village of volunteers, donors and sponsors, have helped make that saying a reality through the Mooresville-based Hands Helping Hands Ministry.

The ministry lives up to its name, helping people with clothing, food and resources if Hands Helping Hands cannot meet that particular need. “We help people get the help they need,” she said.

Miller said forming the ministry more than a decade ago was just an extension of the way she’s lived her life. “I was always helping people,” she said, a lesson she learned as a young girl. Growing up, she said, she witnessed community members helping each other. “You always help your neighbors,” she said.

Miller said Hands Helping Hands grew out of the idea of fulfilling needs for people in the Mooresville area.

It now includes a radio ministry, where every Sunday from 8-8:15 a.m. on WHIP, Miller and others associated with the organization share the message of the ministry as well as giving a spiritual lift.

Miller is quick to point out that Hands Helping Hands is not something she does alone.

Since its inception, she said, Hands Helping Hands has drawn support from churches, individuals, businesses and volunteers.

Those churches include Joy Delight Ministries, Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church, New Life Missionary Baptist Church, Mt. Moriah Holiness Church, Upper Praise Ministries, Word of Truth Ministries, United Congregation of Mooresville, Chosen Harvest BTW, Mt. Olive Church and Empowerment Church. Sponsors and contributors include the Mooresville Chapter of the NAACP, John and Mary Kowachuk, Walter and Mary Rankin, Janet Fowler, Bishop Michael and Robin Reinhart.

Miller said the ministry also receives support from Costco and Food Lion, both of which provide food, and from Randy Marion Automotive Group, which gives the ministry 200 turkeys each Thanksgiving and ongoing support throughout the year.

Miller said Hands Helping Hands fulfills its mission through the assistance of volunteers and those who donate food, clothing or money. Volunteers, she said, gather each week to pack 60 to 70 food boxes that are distributed each Sunday at Upper Praise Ministries on West Moore Avenue from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Miller said the number of food boxes has grown from 20 in the beginning of the ministry to around 70 today. That growth, she said, is indicative of the value of Hands Helping Hands. “The need is so great,” she said.

She said the appreciation expressed by those getting the food boxes is proof the ministry is doing God’s work in the community. “We’re not just saying God loves you but we’re showing them that God loves you,” Miller said.

Miller said the thanks expressed at the food giveaways are just one example of the blessings she and the other volunteers receive. One woman, she said, was moving into a new apartment but with scraping together the money needed for deposits, utilities and other expenses, she could not afford furnishings or day-to-day necessities.

That’s where Hands Helping Hands stepped in, and through donations, was able to fully furnish the apartment and provide the woman with necessities to start her life over, Miller said. “That’s just one story,” she said.

She said the organization is currently working to restore an old home on her property to serve as the headquarters for the ministry. A new roof has already been put on the house but other work is needed to bring it up to standards. The goal for the house, Miller said, is a place to put the food pantry and donated clothing. But a bigger vision is to take one room of the house as a place for someone in need to stay temporarily.

While it’s just a dream at this point, Miller said, she knows that it will become a reality. “God is good,” she said.

The next event on the calendar for Hands Helping Hands is “free day,” which will be held Thursday and Friday. Clothing and other items will be in the front yard of Hands Helping Hands Ministries at 145 Glory Road.

And Miller is already making plans for the ministry’s annual Thanksgiving meal. The organization packs 200 meals for area families, with the turkeys provided by Randy Marion Automotive. She said other food items are needed for the meals from canned corn, green beans and sweet potatoes to stuffing, rice, packets of gravy and cornbread mix.

Managing this undertaking year-round is a labor of love for Miller and the others involved with Hands Helping Hands. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do. I love it,” she said. “This is such a blessing.”

Hands Helping Hands Ministry is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible. To make a donation visit www.handshelpinghands.org or via Cash App at dchrrywd$145 or via mail at 145 Glory Road, Mooresville, 28117. Make checks payable to Hands Helping Hands.

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