NEW BERLIN – Efforts are underway to coordinate a volunteer-driven campaign aimed at helping New Berlin area residents who have difficulty helping themselves.

For three years, the New Berlin Helping Hands Project has assisted families and individuals with outdoor projects that may be impossible for them to do otherwise due to sickness, disabilities, aging, or other hardships.

That tradition continues this year as volunteers gear up for four consecutive Saturdays of serving the community.

The Helping Hands projects will assist six families in New Berlin this year. In previous years, volunteers have taken on projects that included exterior painting, landscaping and gardening, and overall yard cleanup at several homes in the village.

“It’s really about just donating time and efforts to help people,” said Helping Hands coordinator Gene Chilion. “It’s getting people to volunteer because it’s sometimes easier to get money from people than it is to get their time. We’re trying to teach – especially to young people – that this is what people should be doing. It’s not always about money. It’s also about volunteering your time and talents to someone who really needs it.”